Deeper than Blood, Stronger than Fate
by MayDayGirl-Save-Our-Ships
Summary: Our strange little family isn't perfect, but it's all we have. A collection of turtle fics. (Chapter 4: Her Tessen. April has something she needs to return to Splinter no matter how much she wishes she didn't have to let it go.)
1. Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles

**Hi! So I've been making a lot of turtle fics recently and they've been getting a good response on tumblr so I decided I'm going to post them here as well. This will be a fic containing many one-shots and smaller fics that I make. Some may be connected and some won't be. 2012 Turltes only.**

**Sometimes I might post things on tumblr before I post them here so if you're curious about what I'm working on you can go to textsfromturtles on tumblr (also, my personal blog is dp-shrine-in-closet-girl if you're interested in following that as well).**

**Please don't forget to review or send me a message on tumblr if you like what I've written so far! Also, sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes. I don't have a beta so sometimes things slip through. **

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**Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles**

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**Part 1**

Irma was captured again.

Frighteningly large monsters had grabbed her around her waist, their long claws catching on her clothes, tearing small holes in the fabric.

They had been wolves, giant humanoid wolves. There has been so many of them; they worked as a unit, hunted her down as a pack.

She had fainted once they grabbed her, but when she awoke she found herself in a damp cave. She drew her legs to her chest in fear, hissing as the bruises on her arms and legs stung as she moved.

Looking around the cave, her mouth fell open as she let out a cry of despair at what she saw. Metal bars blocked the mouth of the cave. They fit perfectly in the cave opening; trapping her inside. Enough light flooded in from the cave opening that she could see around her prison, but there was nothing but a few oddly shaped rocks and a trough filled with water.

Tears sprung to Irma's eyes. She was captured by those rat monsters only a month ago and now she was trapped again. What did these creatures want with her?

Irma could hear a growl echo outside of her cage and she felt her whole body freeze, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. Her vision swam as a rush of panic consumed her and a part of her wished that she would pass out again. Anything was better than the terror that gripped her heart.

A huge, hairy monster stepped into the view of the cage, its long noes sniffing loudly in her direction.

"The girl is awake," it said, its voice deep and gravely, "Can we eat her now?"

"No! You know what Alpha said," another low voice chastised as a second monster moved into view. "We need to collect more food first. Our pack is strong, but we can't expand our territory if we don't have enough food to sustain us. Too long we have been dependent on humans for food at this retched zoo. Now the humans will be our food!"

"But I'm starving, Beta! Can't I just have one small bite? Just an arm! That's it!"

"Be still, Omega. You will heed your leader's commands. Now, guard the entrance to the cave while I hunt for more prey."

"Yes, Beta." With its tail between its legs, the human-like wolf followed Beta out of view of the cage.

Irma gasped for air, suddenly realizing that she had been holding her breath. Her whole body shook with terror as tears streamed down her face. She couldn't feel anything but an icy chill that ran down her spine. They were going to eat her? This was just as bad as the rat-man wanting to experiment on her.

Oh God, how was she going to get out of this?

"Canis lupus mixed with human DNA? This is not good."

Irma jumped at the unexpected voice behind her. She whirled around, her eyes searching the shadows of the cave to look for the speaker. The shape she had first mistaken for a strange pile of rocks was now sitting up with a grunt. It was human shaped, but as another shiver ran down Irma's spine, she realized there was something off about the figure. He was tall and lean in some places, and bulky in others that didn't quite fit a human shape. He was cloaked in shadow and Irma squinted her eyes in an attempt to get a better look at him, but to no avail.

"Wh-who are you?" Irma asked, her voice breaking in fear.

Light reflected off the stranger's eyes as he looked up at her. "Donatello," he told her hesitantly, and she tensed when she noticed his eyes sizing her up. "Who are you?"

"Irma," she squeaked out; fear and panic were gripping her throat, making it hard to speak.

"Are you hurt?" Donatello asked softly and Irma blinked at the concern in his voice. Maybe she had been seeing things. Maybe he was just a normal person. He sounded so human, like a teenage boy around her age. The wolf monster's voices had been angry and gruff, but his was gentle and kind.

"N-no, I'm okay. Are you?"

He hesitated once more. "My hands and feet are bound, but I'm okay."

Irma frowned. "They didn't bind me. Maybe I can help you and we can escape." She didn't trust herself to sand up with her shaky muscles, so she began crawling towards him.

"N-no, stay where you are. I'm sure I can free myself." To her surprise he scooted away from her, deeper into the shadows.

Irma's mouth parted in surprise, but she didn't stop inching closer. "Why? I can help you."

"No, really! Don't come any closer!" she froze at the desperation in his voice as a feeling of dread began to consume her. He obviously didn't want her to see him, and terror shot through her as it began to dawn on her that her original guess about his non-human status might be correct.

She could feel her hands shaking again as the haze of panic consumed her mind. She just wanted to crawl up in a ball and close her eyes until she woke up in her bed. She just wanted this whole nightmare to be over.

However, she wasn't going to wake up from this, just like she didn't wake up to find that the rat king had been a dream. There really were monsters in this world and she may or may not be sharing a cage with one of them.

She wouldn't know what Donatello was until she saw him with her own eyes, and she couldn't stop her curiosity as she creped forward just a bit more. She had to know what he was. If he really was a monster, she wanted to be sure he really was bound and unable to hurt her.

She could almost make out a little bit of green as she squinted into the darkness.

_"Irma, don't,"_ he protested one last time and she could hear the fear, sadness, and shame in his voice.

And then, she saw him.

Green and scaled, tall and looming, foreign and terrifying; a scream ripped from her throat as she jerked backwards. Her back hit the hard ground as she scrambled to scoot herself away from it in panic. Her mind couldn't even process what she had seen. It had been like a dinosaur or giant lizard, and it had spoken to her! Tricking her into believing it could actually be human. It was just as bad as the monster wolves or giant rats, only now she was only a few feet away from it.

She picked herself up off the ground, and stumbling, made her way to the front of the cage. She placed her back against the bars as she stared into the darkness, trying to find the silhouette of the monster she was sharing a cage with.

"D-don't come any closer!" she yelled into the darkness, her voice breaking.

However, there was no response.

She hugged her knees to her chest again as tears began to obstruct her vision. She was shaking as a sob ripped from her throat. She was going to die here and no one would know what had happened to her.

She sobbed quietly to herself, her breath coming out in short gasps.

There was no movement from the other end of the cage and Irma tried to force herself to pretend she was alone. She didn't want to be alone, but it was better than being with that… _thing_.

Irma tensed when a timid voice reached her ears.

"I'm sorry," it said, its voice thick with regret. "I… I didn't mean to scare you."

Irma hugged herself closer. It was lying. It just wanted her to think it was harmless so she would approach it again. Maybe it wanted her to undo its bindings so it could attack her.

"Y-you're just like them!" she breathed harshly into the darkness, her voice was just a whisper but it was filled with all the animosity she could manage. "You're a monster just like them! Just like the giant rats and those wolves!"

Silence stretched out between them and just when Irma didn't think it would answer, it spoke again.

"Yes," is said slowly. "I am a mutant like them."

Irma hugged herself closer, a whimper escaped her lips.

"But I'm not going to hurt you," its voice was stronger this time, reassuring.

Irma shook her head. "Please, just go away."

"I… I can help you escape," it said carefully. "But I need your help. I tried, but I can't undo these bindings on my own. If you help me we can both get out of here before we're eaten."

Irma shook her head, more tears leaked down her face.

"Irma," it said gently. "I know you're scared and I know I… I scared you. I'm sorry that I did. But if you don't do something-"

"How do I know you're not going to hurt me?" Irma spit back. "How do I know this isn't some kind of a trick?"

The creature sighed. "Those wolves are just going to eat you any way. There is at least a chance I'm telling the truth, right?"

Irma considered the strange creature's words. If she did nothing she would be killed for sure, but if the monster in the cage with her actually did have a way out…

Irma bit her lip. It was her only chance and yet she still couldn't bring herself to do it. He had been too freaky; she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to look upon him again, let alone get close enough to undo his bindings. Irma liked weird things. She liked spiders and rats and things that normal girls her age didn't. It was one of the reasons why she got along with April so well; the red-headed girl didn't mind the unusual. But this… this wasn't just a spider in her room. This was a real monster.

"Just… just give me the benefit of the doubt, okay? I know I'm scary, but I'm not…" the monster hesitated, embarrassment and shame creeping into his voice, "I'm not _that_ scary, am I?"

Her tears had stopped and Irma had removed her glasses to wipe away the remaining wetness on her cheeks. Placing her glasses back on her face, Irma peered into the darkness.

"Y-yeah…" her voice shook. "You are."

"Oh."

Irma blinked at the absolute sadness in the creature's response, and she was surprised to feel her heart tighten guiltily.

With a frustrated sigh, Irma made her decision and crept forward. She wasn't going to untie him; she just wanted to look at him one more time, and this time she would be ready. She was shaken and scared, but honestly, she didn't have much left to lose.

She saw the creature tense in the darkness as she approached on her hands and knees. When her eyes adjusted to the shadows she saw it properly as a shiver of fear ran through her. Even learning against the cave wall, it was just as tall as she remembered. On its bald head was a purple mask, its eyes behind the mask watched her with a calculated intelligence. Its body was covered with green scales and its hands were bound behind its…. shell? Wait a minute.

"Are… are you a turtle?" Irma asked in astonishment.

He smiled at her, but it was more of a grimace. "That's right. And turtles aren't scary, are they?"

"They are when they're giant talking turtles," Irma shot back defensively, sitting on her knees as she continued to observe him from a distance.

His shoulders seemed to slump at her comment and she could feel guilt squeeze her heart once more. He may not look human, but those eyes were so full of emotion and his voice… it was far too normal sounding to come from such a strange creature.

"H-how can you talk?" Irma asked the first thing that popped into her head.

The turtle shrugged. "Same way you can."

He adjusted his bound legs just and inch and she felt herself jump, her breath catching in her throat.

He glanced up at her in surprise. "Sorry…" he mumbled quietly. "Didn't mean to startle you."

Irma shook her head, trying to calm her nerves. "What are you? What were those things? Why are there so many monsters in New York?"

The turtle winced with a frown. "Monster is a harsh word. We were all mutated from the same substance. I'm a combination of turtle and human DNA; those wolves are a combination of wolf and human DNA."

"So they used to be normal wolves before they were mutated?" Irma asked. "And you used to be just a normal turtle?"

The mutant turtle nodded.

"How did this happen?"

"A canister of mutagen must have fallen in the wolf exhibit and broke. There must have been human DNA already on the wolves from their handlers."

"And were you a part of the zoo too?"

The turtle let out a short laugh. "No, I was mutated fifteen years ago."

Irma stared at him in awe. She didn't know what to think. This was all so weird.

"Irma," he urged quietly. "You have to untie me. If those wolves come back it might be too late. I swear to you I'm not going to hurt you and I will get you out of here, but I need my hands and legs free to fight the them."

"You're a turtle," Irma pointed out. "How are you going to fight wolves?"

For the first time, he grinned at her, showing off the gap between his teeth. "Oh, those wolves are going to be no problem for me."

Irma hesitated, bit her lip, and then nodded. "Okay…"

Taking a breath, she inched closer to it… no,_ him_. Donatello, right? That's what he had told her his name was.

He was weird looking and a bit scary, but there was also something incredibly human about him. The longer she looked at him the more she could see it. Her hands shook as she approached him, and she could see him tense up uncomfortably.

She knew that what she was doing was incredibly dangerous. It was probably naïve and stupid to trust this creature, but she preferred the mutant turtle with the kind eyes and an awkward smile to the blood thirsty wolves any day.

"Let me move so you can reach my hands," he said, and she was glad he warned her, because her heart started pounding wildly in her chest as soon as he sat straight up and twisted his body enough to give her access to his hands.

With her own shaking hands, she attempted to until the knot that bound him. She avoided touching his scaly skin despite the part of her that was curious about what it felt like. After several tries, her slightly numb hands ached from her failed attempts to loosen the knot.

Irma sighed in frustration.

"On my belt around my shell there is a pocket on my left. Inside there may be a shuriken you can use to cut the rope. That is, if they didn't strip me of all my weapons."

Irma let out a laugh. "A shuriken? What are you, a ninja?"

There was a short beat of silence before Donatello nodded. "Yep."

Irma's mouth fell open as she stared at him. She wanted to scoff. A ninja? Yeah right! But then she realized she was talking to a mutant turtle that actually talked back and she just shrugged. Today was the weirdest day of her life.

She had found the shuriken exactly where he said it would be. Her hand brushed lightly against his shell and she pulled back in surprise. Donatello, however, didn't seem to notice.

With difficulty, she cut through the ropes, careful to avoid cutting his hands. Once his hands where free he left out of soft sigh as he rubbed his arms with a grimace. Irma scooted away from him to give him some space, the shuriken still in her hand.

He looked at her gratefully with a small, gentle smile, and held out his hand. At first she was confused, but when he glanced at the shuriken she understood and handed the weapon back to him.

He was careful not to touch her as the weapon passed between them, and with one swift move, he cut the rope from his feet and placed the shuriken back in his belt.

He stood up quickly in a tall and graceful manor that, as a turtle, he should have never been able to do. He approached her slowly, like one would do with a scared animal. He bent his knees until he was closer to her level and held out his hand.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

She smiled lightly, the last of her fear of him fading away. He wasn't going to hurt her; she knew that now. He was going to help her escape, just like he promised.

She nodded and took his scaly hand, marveling at how the texture felt on her soft skin. It was rough from the scales, but still soft like flesh, similar to touching a snake. His scales were cool but not cold, and as he helped her to her feet she realized how unbelievably strong he was.

Before she could say something there was a shout, a crash, and a few howls of pain before more shouting. Then, there was a cry, and everything went silent. The mutant wolves were approached the cage, and suddenly, Donatello's three-fingered hand disappeared from her grasp. She spun around, but she couldn't see him. The door was still locked, so she knew he was still in the cage with her.

With the way he disappeared, Irma was starting to believe the whole ninja thing.

The wolves appeared quickly, opened the cage, and shoved a lifeless figure inside. It landed at Irma's feet and the purpled hair girl looked down in horror.

Her friend, April O'Neil, was lying unconscious on the ground in front of her.


	2. Irma Meets the Turtles (part 2)

**Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles**

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**Part 2**

Irma gasped and collapsed on the ground next to her friend.

"April!" Irma called, shaking her shoulder slightly, trying to rouse her friend, but April didn't stir.

Irma jumped as Donatello materialized beside her on his knees, reaching out his scaly hand towards her friend. Irma's first thought was to protect April, but as she watched Donatello's precise movements as the mutant checked April's pulse and then her breathing before carefully examining the cut on her forehead, Irma's protests died in her throat. Donatello obviously knew what he was doing and he was surprisingly gentle with her friend.

"Is she going to be okay?" Irma asked.

Donatello nodded to himself as he finished examining the cut on April's head and then carefully laid her head back down on the cave floor, using his hand to support her neck until she was settled again.

"I think so. It looks worse than it is." Irma watched as the mutant's fists clenched angrily as a shadow darkened his usually kind face. "When I get my hands on those mutts who did this to her… I'm going to…" his voice broke off in snarling burst of rage and what came out next was a sting of angry words Irma couldn't make out. She belatedly realized they were in Japanese, and if she were to hazard a guess, not words one would use in polite company.

Irma stared at him in amazement and just a hint of trepidation. He was… kind of scary when he was angry. She hadn't seen this side of him before, and combined with how fast he could move and the weapons he seemed to carry, a bit of fear began to build inside of her.

He glanced up at her, causing her to freeze. He must have read her expression, because his eyes widened in understanding and guilt. His angry expression cleared and Irma could immediately see the tension leave his hands and shoulders as he forced himself to relax with a breath.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I just can't stand it when-" Donatello broke off, glancing at April. "Well, no use in getting angry now," he said briskly, and Irma could tell he was still fighting his need to punch something, most likely the mutant wolves.

Guilt, once again, tugged against Irma's heart. She had thought she had banished any lingering fear she had of the mutant turtle, but it seemed that some of it still remained.

Irma always thought of herself as someone who judged others on their actions and not what they looked like. However, it seemed this was easier said than done.

Irma watched the turtle who was sitting on his knees next to Aprils head, staring down at the red-headed girl. His position looked uncomfortable with his feet tucked behind his shell, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Donatello, this is my friend. We have to take her with us."

The turtle nodded absentmindedly; his mind seemed millions of miles away. "Yes… we have to wait for her to wake up. I can't carry her and fight these mutants."

Irma felt a smile touch her lips. He was willing to put their escape on hold for Irma's friend instead of trying to escape without them.

His eyes never left April and Irma could see the concern etched across his face. She had never been so wrong about someone in her life and she had never been so happy to be wrong.

"I'm sorry," Irma blurted out suddenly, causing the young mutant's head to snap up to face her in confusion.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," Irma repeated, glancing at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry for… for calling you a monster. You're not a monster… not even close. And truthfully, you don't even look all that scary."

Irma looked back up at him to see him staring at her in bewilderment before, slowly, a smile began to stretch across his face.

"Thanks…" He gave her a toothy grin.

Irma shrugged. "Actually, turtles are pretty cool. Some species can live over a hundred years." Irma blinked and raised a curious eyebrow. "Do you think you'll live that long?"

A thoughtful expression crossed Donatello's face. "I don't know. It's hard to be sure. The mutagen can be unpredictable. I never really thought about how long we would live."

Irma's eyebrows knotted in confusion. "We?"

Donatello froze. "Uhh… I mean-"

A groan came from the girl in front of them as April began to stir.

To Irma's surprise, Donatello was suddenly frantic.

"April!" he called, helping her sit up with one strong hand on April's back as his head bobbed into her field of vision.

"Umm, wait, Donatello…" Irma warned, but the turtle didn't seem to hear her. She wanted to warn him that it probably wasn't the best idea to have his face be the first thing April saw when she woke up, at least if he didn't want April to scream in it.

"Hmm?" April asked, coming around as she cracked one eye open.

"Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" he waved his three-fingered hand in front of her face.

April squinted and winced in pain. "Umm, all of them?"

"Which is…?" Donatello encouraged.

"Three," April answered as she stared to help herself sit up further.

The mutant turtle let out a relieved sigh.

"April, are you okay?" Irma asked, coming into her field of vision.

April blinked and managed to focus on her. "Irma? What are you doing-"

Suddenly, April's eyes widened and her mind seemed to clear. Her head snapped around to stare at the mutant turtle in front of her as if she was seeing him for the first time.

"No, April, it's okay!" Irma tried to reassure her. "He's a friend! He's not going to hurt us."

April's shocked expression twisted into one of confusion as she looked at Irma. "Wait… what?"

"His names Donatello, you don't have to be afraid of him," Irma explained quickly, glancing between the turtle and her friend.

April silently looked from Irma to Donatello again, and to Irma's surprise, the girl raised an amused eyebrow at the mutant to which he replied with an embarrassed smile.

April cracked a smile of her own.

"I'm glad you're okay," April told the turtle. "You never would have been captured if you hadn't jumped in to save me."

Donatello waved her off. "No big deal-"

But before he could finish, April leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the turtle's neck.

The turtle immediately tensed in surprise before he relaxed again, wrapped his arms around her.

April broke the hug and grinned up at him, her hands still on his shoulders. "Thanks, Donnie."

"Wait! Hold on!" Irma shouted. "You know him?" she asked, gesturing to the mutant.

April nodded. "Yeah, and it looks like you do to." April glanced at Donatello. "Is… everything… okay?" she asked him, biting her lip. Irma had the feeling she was talking about something much bigger than their current situation, but she couldn't quite understand what April was hinting at. Donatello, on the other hand, seemed to understand her meaning right away.

The mutant turtle glanced at Irma and gave her a light smile before turning back to April. "Yeah, we're cool."

April sighed in relief.

"I don't understand!" Irma said, shaking her head. "How do you know him? What's going on, April?"

"You know those friends I hang out with all the time that you never see?"

Irma nodded, understanding starting to dawn in her eyes.

"Well, Donnie is one of them." April attempted to stand, but as her legs wobbled beneath her, Donatello grabbed her arms and shoulders to steady her, gently lifting April the rest of the way up. April leaned into him as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

Donatello had been careful to avoid touching Irma, but he showed no such unfamiliarity with April. In fact, it had been April who had hugged him and leaned against him with no hesitation or reluctance, much to Irma's surprise. Obviously, they were used to being around each other.

Once she was on her feet, April gave Irma the sternest look she had ever received from the girl. It was fierce and protective, and for a moment, Irma felt like April saw her more as a threat than a friend.

"You _can't_ tell anyone about him, Irma," April insisted, placing a hand on Donatello's plastron. "Nobody can know that Donnie exists. You have to promise," she demanded, her eyes fiery and bright.

Irma nodded numbly, shocked by April's shift in mood. "No one would believe me anyway, and I don't really want people thinking I'm crazy."

That didn't seem to be enough for April as the red-head frowned at her.

Irma rolled her eyes. "I won't tell anyone, promise."

April considered her a moment longer before she smiled. "Good." She turned to Donatello. "Now let's get out of here."

Donatello, or Donnie as April affectionately called him, nodded. "I have a plan, but you two probably won't like it."

April groaned. "Isn't that always the way?"


	3. Irma Meets the Turtles (part 3)

**Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles**

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**Part 3**

"We have to go for the weakest link first," Donatello explained. "That's how wolves hunt after all."

April nodded thoughtfully. "Obviously that would be Omega. I heard them talking and I don't think he's the brightest of the bunch."

Donnie nodded. "My thoughts exactly. He doesn't seem like the most patient fellow. You and Irma must bait him into the cage. Once he opens the door to come after you, I'll take him down."

"Wait, how are we supposed to do that?" Irma asked. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like the answer.

April glanced at the mouth of the cave. "Well he must be hungry, let's give him something he can't refuse."

"Are you kidding?" Irma shouted. "I thought we were trying to not get eaten by those wolves!"

"Don't worry, I won't let him lay a paw on either of you," Donatello promised, his voice absolute. "You two just have to get him to open the cage door. I'll do the rest."

Irma held back a whimper. She was starting to feel faint again.

"Don't worry," April assured her. "Donnie's good; you'll just have to trust him." April nodded to Donnie with a smile and before Irma's eyes Donatello vanished. April didn't look for him, but Irma did, twisting around to see where he had vanished too, but there was no one in the cave but her and April.

"How does he do that?" Irma asked in awe.

"It's a ninja thing," April answered automatically. "You get used to it."

"But seriously, how can a turtle be a ninja? Aren't they supposed to be slow?"

"I can still here you, you know," came Donatello's disembodied voice.

Irma blushed. "Sorry."

"I think Omega may be still guarding us from outside the cave. We have to get his attention."

"How do you know that?" Irma asked. "Do you know where we are?"

"I was awake at first when they dragged me in. They only knocked me out because I almost got away. We're in the zoo enclosure where the wolves were held. This cave is where they would lock them up the wolves to sleep at night."

"Seems a little small," Irma noted.

"I guess that's why they're pissed at humans," April responded with a shrug. "I've only been stuck in this cage for less then an hour and I'm pretty pissed."

"Okay, how do we get Omega's attention then?" Irma asked.

"I got this," April assured her. "Here, boy! Here, Omega!" She whistled for him like he was a dog. "Come here, boy!"

Irma stared at her open mouthed. "What are you doing? Are you trying to piss him off?"

April grinned at her and Irma realized with a jolt that although Irma felt like she was going to pass out, April was having a blast.

"Just follow my lead," April instructed.

Irma heard Omega growl and quick footsteps soon followed. "You better not be talking to me, little girl."

The hulking form of the wolf-man outlined the mouth of the cave. Omega's nose wrinkled as he let out a threatening snarl.

Irma stumbled backwards in fear. Those teeth were really large.

April strolled forward as if she weren't intimidated in the least. "_My grandmother_, what a hairy face you have."

The wolf snarled again. "You trying to be cute, you little brat? Let's see how many jokes you make when it's dinner time."

"Aww, the puppy is kind of testy. Looks like someone could use a good nap."

The wolf struck the cage in anger, his claws making a loud scraping sound against the metal. Even April flinched at the sound.

"Just you wait, little girl. I'm starving out here and you are going to be the first I rip limb-from-limb," the wolf growled and Irma could see the entire set of the wolf's yellow teeth.

"Oh, I'm so scared!" April mocked, a hand on her hip. "What are you going to do? I'm in here and you're out there. It's not like you have the key or anything."

With a nasty smile, the wolf held up a shiny pair of keys that most likely used to belong to the zoo staff. "You mean this?"

April folded her arms. "Big deal. You're not going to use them or else you already would have. Your leader told you not to eat us, didn't he? Which means I can say whatever I want to you." April stuck out her tongue for good measure.

"Oh, I'm going to make you regret that!" he snarled, pacing along the side of the cage. "I'm not just going to eat you in one bite! I'm going to kill you slowly… make you suffer…"

Irma swallowed the lump in her throat and took a brave step forward. "But… in the wolf packs… doesn't the alpha get to eat first?" she asked timidly.

April stared at her in confusion, and then, her eyes lit up as she figured out what Irma was getting at. April gave her an approving nod, which gave Irma the strength to continue. "A-and," Irma continued, her voice trembling. "If you wait to eat us, you won't be able to get to us first. Your leader will."

Irma must have been right, because the mutant wolf-man struck his claws angrily against the bars of the cage again, his pacing quickened, his panting raged.

"Aww, poor little Omega is a good doggie, isn't he?" April teased. "He always does what his master says, just like dogs always obey humans-"

"I AM NOT A DOG!" Omega howled.

"Could have fooled me. Do you always do every single thing Alpha says? Such a good puppy."

"That's it!" Omega yelled, fumbling with the key in his human-like hands as he tried to fit it into the lock.

Irma looked over at April in fear. Their plan was working, but now what?

April mouthed 'get back' and Irma had no trouble complying. April took a few steps back herself, but she was still relatively close to the monster. Irma didn't understand why April wasn't near the back of the cave with her, but then she realized why as April spread out her hands out protectively, as if signaling to Irma to say where she was. April was trying to keep the wolf's attention on herself so she alone would be the bait.

The cage door swung open and with a bloodthirsty snarl the beast lunged for her friend.

April dove out of the way swiftly and fell into a perfectly controlled roll that had her up on her feet again, facing the monster with her hands up defensively. However, at the same time as the wolf lunged, another force hit the wolf from above, sending its head hard into the ground. In a blur of green, the wolf was picked up from the ground and thrown against the side of the cave where Irma heard a loud crack and a whimper.

It was over before it really began.

Donatello stood exactly where the wolf had lunged at April, a truly murderous look on his face. "No one threatens my April!" he shouted, and for a moment Irma was sincerely worried for any mugger -or even just any teenage jerk- who tried to mess with April, because Irma had a feeling they would then have to contend with a large, protective mutant skilled in ninjutsu.

Glaring at the motionless body of the wolf-man and clearly wanting to hit him more, Donatello turned to face April.

"You okay?" he asked.

April just smiled lightly as if nothing happened. "Of course." She glanced at the wolf. "Nice job."

Donatello's face suddenly became dark as he looked back over at the fallen mutant. "Now I know how Raph feels. I'm not finished with him yet." The mutant took a step closer to the wolf, but April grabbed his hand, effetely stopping him.

"Donnie, let it go. We have to get out of here."

He turned to her wide-eyed. "But he-"

"Didn't even touch me," she finished for him, her face stern. "Thanks to my training and thanks to you."

Donatello sighed. "Yeah…" He sent one more hateful glare at the wolf. "Let's get out of here."

"Come on, Irma." April motioned towards the mouth of the cave.

Irma didn't need to be told twice.

April closed the cage behind her and locked the door, placing the keys in her pocket.

"Before we leave, they took my tessen," April explained to Donnie, "and I bet they have your bō."

"Wait, what's happening?" Irma asked. "Aren't we getting out of here?"

"Not yet," April informed her. "We're getting our weapons first."

The wolf stirred. "You're going to pay for this," the mutant growled; his words were strained and full of hate. "My brothers will find you. They can follow your sent anywhere. There is no where you will be safe from them. They will make you pay."

Donatello glared sharply at the beaten figure on the cave floor. "Yeah well, I have brothers too and we're not going to let that happen," Donatello said with a growl that rivaled the wolf's.

April grabbed Irma's hand and pulled her away from the cage door, encouraging her to move faster "Come on, Irma. Let's go."

Irma shook her head, trying to focus on where she was being pulled to. "Why can't we just get out of here? We can just leave the weapons, right?"

Donatello's voice spoke from Irma's left as he easily kept up with their hurried speed. "She's right, April. I can replace my bō and I know sensei gave you that tessen but what do you think he's going to say if he knew you risked your life to get it back?"

April purposely ignored him.

"April," he pressed. "He would say that your life was more important than any object." The mutant turtle's voice was gentle, and Irma thought, very convincing.

April stopped running, causing Irma to stumble to a stop as well. April looked up at Donatello with a scowl on her face. "I'm not leaving it, Donnie. I don't care if I'm being stupid, I don't care if sensei gets mad. I. Am. Not. Leaving. It."

April's glare seemed to cause Donnie to shrink as he held up his hands.

"Okay, okay-"

"If you want to take Irma and get out of here that's fine but I'm not-"

Donatello grabbed her shoulders and she immediately stopped speaking, looking up at him in surprise.

"I said, okay," he assured her gently. "I'm not really sure why it's so important, but you wouldn't risk your life if it wasn't. And there is no way I'm leaving you. We'll all go."

April smiled gratefully. "Thanks Donnie."

They ran out to the side of the wolf enclosure where there was a bad paint job hiding the door in the concrete wall. April pulled out the keys and hoped she was right. The second key fit in the lock and they were finally free from the exhibit.

Despite it being day time, there was no one in the zoo. The only sounds came from the animals in their cages.

Donatello fidgeted slightly and Irma couldn't help but notice how strange he looked out in the open light. In the dark cave he looked menacing, especially with how he could disappear in an instant. Out here he looked out of place and awkward, and he seemed to feel it too.

"Where is everyone? No customers? No staff?" April said to herself.

"I'm not complaining," Irma heard Donatello mumble and she didn't miss April's sympathetic glance towards him.

"I hope they escaped before the wolves took over," April said.

"There was mass panic," Irma explained. "The wolves couldn't have been able to hunt everyone. I was just one street away from the zoo when they grabbed me."

"They must have been confused," Donatello said. "When the ooze fell on them they must have lashed out and went crazy. If they weren't pack animals they might have never organized, but they did, and now it looks like their plan is to hunt people and take over the city."

"The police have guns. If their plan is to take over they won't get very far," Irma reasoned.

"Yeah, but they're smart too," Donatello said. "They'll go after the weak first and build up their food supply before they make any real organized attacks. The other wolves are probably hunting people as we speak."

"Except for that one," April said, pointing to what looked like a gift shop.

Irma stared at her in confusion, looking from the gift shop to her friend in hopes that April's words would become clear. "What do you mean?"

April closed her eyes. "I'm sure there is someone in there and I bet it's a wolf. I would also bet that if they are making that building their headquarters then that's where they're keeping our weapons." She opened her eyes again. "Yes, I'm sure there is one in there."

Donnie nodded, smiling proudly at her. "Are you sure there is only one?"

April nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"How can you tell?" Irma asked.

April shrugged. "I'm not really sure. It's something I've kind of always been able to do, but now I'm training to enhance this… sensitivity that I have."

"What, you have a superpower or something?" Irma expected April to laugh; she expected her friend to deny it, but to her surprise April just shrugged with a small smile.

"Something like that."

Irma's mouth fell open. "April… when did your life get so weird?"

April laughed, glancing at a curious Donnie before turning her attention back to Irma. April placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Irma, I don't think my life has ever been normal."

With a smirk April turned and headed towards the gift shop. Donnie jumped, letting out a surprised yelp as he quickly followed April.

"Wait for me!" he hissed quietly.

Donnie beat her to the door, giving her an exasperated look. April stopped, sighed impatiently as she ran a hand through her messy hair, and then motioned for him to go first.

Donatello pushed open the door and flung himself through. There was a snarl and something that sounded like a battle cry. April followed after him with no hesitation, her hands up and her face set. Irma didn't even see the battle. Just like the other one, it was over too quickly.

Irma bravely peeped through the gift shop door to see April pick up something from the ground next to the fallen wolf. The wolf was one Irma hadn't seen before. It had a smaller build than Beta and Irma doubted it was Alpha.

"Yes! I found it!" April shouted.

"A fan? You risked your life for a fan?" Irma asked incredulously when she finally got a good look at what April was holding.

Irma watched as April displayed the metal fan, and with one quick move, April cut through the air in something that was half a dance move and half a deadly strike. April smirked as she examined the fan again, letting out a little hum of appreciation.

Donatello did a similar check of his own weapon as he twirled it in his hands before placing it in a holder on the back of his shell. He nodded slightly to himself and Irma realized he had been checking its balance.

"Okay? Are we done here?" Irma asked earnestly. "Because I would really like to get home."

A piercing howl filled the sky, causing a shiver of fear to freeze Irma's very bones. And echoing howl followed; this one closer. Irma realized the last one must have been Omega.

"We have to get out of here," Donatello asserted quickly. "They'll be here soon."

"We can catch the bus from here," Irma suggested. "The bus stop is just outside the zoo and it will take us strait to my house-"

Donatello was staring at her, and April raised an amused eyebrow.

"Uhh…" Irma said blushing, and trying not to look at Donatello. "Well, April and I can…"

Irma glanced up at the mutant turtle, her face still hot with embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had forgotten about him. "Sorry," she murmured.

To her relief, Donatello didn't seem the least bit upset with her slip up. He just shrugged; a sincere smile on his face.

"Don't worry about it," he assured her. "You should have heard the amount of times April had invited us out to see a movie or something equally public that we can't do."

Now April's face was red. "Why do you need to bring that up? I just forgot okay?"

Donatello gave her a strange, bewildered look. "You just… forgot?"

April blushed deeper. "Well… yeah…"

Donatello watched the redhead with a confused expression upon his face, his head tilted slightly to the side as he considered her…

And then, he smiled. It was the brightest smile Irma had ever seen.

In one quick motion, Donatello scooped up April in his arms, grinning like a maniac as he spun her around.

April screeched; half a laugh and half a confused yelp.

"April O'Neil you are the best!" Donatello declared holding the girl in his arms, squeezing her tightly as he finally stopped spinning.

April stared up at him in confusion, and then looked to Irma for clarification, but Irma just shrugged. She was still getting used to this stuff; she had no idea what he was going on about.

Blushing as well, Donnie set April back down on her feet.

Still laughing, and still slightly confused, April squeezed him back with a one-armed hug.

Suddenly, something occurred to Irma. "Wait, us?" she asked. This had been the second time Donatello had referred to an 'us' or a 'we'. No, three times if Irma counted the one time Donatello had mentioned brothers.

April seemed to freeze as she glanced at Donatello. "No, Irma, he was just-"

Donatello placed a hand on April's shoulder. "No, it's okay," Donatello assured the redhead. "She might as well know about them. We can't stay topside anyway."

"What do you mean?" April asked.

"Something Omega mentioned that has been worrying me," Donatello explained. "Wolves have a great sense of smell and they're going to come after us. If I leave either of you above ground they will be able to hunt you down. The only place you two would both be safe is where they couldn't track your scent… And the only place that would mask your scent…"

"…Is the sewer," April finished for him.

"Wait, what?" Irma asked, horrified.


	4. Irma Meets the Turtles (part 4)

**Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles**

* * *

**Part 4**

"I don't understand. We're going in the sewer? Isn't that dangerous?" Irma asked as they walked down the city streets. Police cars whizzed by them as they headed in the direction of the zoo. Donatello was nowhere to be seen, but Irma was quickly learning that didn't mean he wasn't there.

"Actually, it's probably the only safe place." April told her. The red-headed girl's forehead was creased with worry. "Are you sure about this, Donnie? I mean… I can't think of any other option but…"

Irma heard Donnie sigh from somewhere above them. "I know, but like you said, we don't have another choice. If either of you stay topside they will be able to find you in no time. Don't worry, I'll explain everything to Splinter."

"Are we doing something wrong?" Irma asked, glancing at her friend.

"It's just… we don't usually have guests in the lair. That's where Donnie and his brothers live," April clarified.

"But aren't you a guest?" Irma asked her friend.

A light laugh from Donnie came from above. "April hasn't been considered a guest in a long time."

"Here we are," April announced as they turned down a shaded ally.

"We should hurry," Donatello said as he appeared beside Irma. "They'll come after us soon."

Irma jumped at Donatello's sudden arrival, just barely managing to suppress a scream. Her hand flew to her heart as it beat widely in her chest.

Donatello didn't seem to notice as he bent down and lifted up the manhole on the ground.

Once her heartbeat slowed, Irma let out a groan. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

* * *

The sewer was dark and wet and smelt like decomposing leaves. April and Donatello walked with purpose; both knowing exactly where they were going.

Irma tried to stay as close. She would probably have a panic attack if she got lost down here by herself.

"You lived down here all your life?" Irma asked.

"Well, yeah. It's not like we could live on the surface without being discovered. The sewers were the only safe place for us."

"How did you learn to fight?"

"Master Splinter taught my brothers and I."

"Master Splinter is training me too," April explained. "You'll meet him too along with the other guys."

Irma did her best not to look too nervous. She could probably handle more mutant turtles without screaming, but she wouldn't know until she met them. It wasn't that she thought Donnie looked necessarily scary (at least not anymore) but he was still one of the strangest things she had ever seen. Irma didn't know how many more mutants she could handle.

April suddenly went tense between them. Donatello had noticed and he was suddenly on high alert; glancing around and griping his bō tightly.

Then, Irma heard it. It sounded like a large animal was making its way towards them, its claws making a scraping sound each time they hit the concrete ground.

"April, Irma stay behind me," Donatello order, twirling his bō in his hands as he stepped in front of them.

His comment earned a glare from April, which made even the tall mutant turtle shrink in fear.

"I-I mean, Irma stay behind us. We'll protect you."

April had her metal fan out, which Irma believed was called a tessen, and held a fighting stance.

A growl echoed through the sewers and Irma swore it had originated from the direction they had been heading towards, but that didn't make sense. If the wolves had followed them they should be coming from behind them, not in front of them.

Unless…

Irma's breath caught in her throat as April twisted around a hundred and eighty degrees, her eyes wide with fear as she stared down the second tunnel. She then glanced down the tunnel behind them, torn between which way to face.

Irma didn't even have time to scream as multiple wolves bounded into view, all coming from different tunnels.

…they were surrounded.

The wolves leaped at them; loud snarls echoing through the tunnels. April and Donatello fought back with a furry Irma hadn't realized either of them possessed. There were at least four wolves and Irma had recognized none of them. One wolf had been easy for Donatello to beat at the zoo, but as a pack they seemed to have grown exponentially in strength.

There was a pattern to their attacks as they continuingly snapped at Irma and dodged the strikes of both April and Donatello. It didn't take long for Irma to figure out why. They were going for the weakest target and they were trying to separate Irma from the rest of the group.

It wasn't working, but Irma quickly realized that protecting her was taking a toll on the other two. Donatello especially couldn't get in a good strike when he was constantly worried about defending Irma (Especially because he was defending April as well, but she required much less effort to protect since she was managing to hold her own) .

And then it happened. A wolf manage to lunge in between them, separating Irma from her protectors before she even knew what happened. Irma backed up to avoid the wolf's claws and teeth but this only managed to separated her further.

The wolf yelped in pain as a six foot stick came down on the top of its head, making a loud cracking sound on the wolf's skill. Donatello was once again in front of Irma, holding out his hand defensively.

"Irma, you have to run," April yelled above the snarls as she dodged a set of jagged teeth.

"But-"

"Just run! We'll catch up!"

Irma knew what April meant without her having to say it. Irma was just in the way here. If she left then it would be much easier for April and Donatello to focus on their opponents.

Irma didn't want to stay and risk getting eaten, but she was terrified that if she left this would be the last time she would see her friend alive.

Irma tried to shake that thought from her head. Donatello was with April and if there was one thing Irma had learned for certain in this unbelievable, crazy day it was that Donatello would protect April no matter what.

Still, Irma hesitated, continuing to watch the fight in horror.

"Go!" Donatello demanded. "Down the tunnel. The lair is not far. You'll be safe there."

That was the last bit of encouragement she needed. Irma nodded to herself and ran. The initial plan had been to find Donatello's brothers and that's exactly what she was going to do. If they were anywhere near as good as Donnie was, then Irma could send them to assist Donatello and April. That was… if she could find them.

The sounds of the battle behind her faded away as the tunnels grew darker the further Irma ran. She had no idea if she was heading in the right direction, but the sensation of dread squeezing her heart pushed her on. As she turned down another tunnel, blindly choosing her course, a stitch in her side forced Irma to slow down.

Tears stung at her eyes guiltily. She had run away when her friends had been in danger. Even though April and Donatello had told her to it, that didn't make Irma feel any better. She had no idea how to find Donnie's brothers and if a wolf had managed to break away from the fight and come after her there was no way she could defend herself.

The thought made Irma run faster, her hand clenched over the stitch in her side. In the dim light, she didn't notice the slippery patch on the tunnel floor. Irma let out a startled cry as her foot slipped out beneath her and she held out her hands, barely managing to catch herself before her head hit the concrete floor. Irma felt her glasses drop from her face and she heard them skid across the concrete into the dark.

Irma held back a strangled scream of frustration and fear as the world went blurry before her. Her eyesight was terrible without her glasses, and with how far they sounded like they had fallen away from her, Irma knew she would never find them in the dim light.

Irma curled into herself, bringing her legs up to her chest. Her breath was ragged and she could feel a panic attack coming on. Her eyes stung and she wiped away the tears stubbornly.

Who would find her here? She doubted many people came down to the sewers. The only people who knew she was here were Donatello and April, but if they had lost their fight…

Irma squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to think about that.

It was completely silent in the tunnel, so when Irma heard a small scraping noise to her right, she jumped up in terror; stumbling to her feet as her heart pounded in her ears. Had the wolves found her?

Dead silence.

If it was the wolves, wouldn't they have attacked already?

Another small noise came from Irma's left, and this one sounded a bit like a footstep.

"Who's there?" Irma called, squinting into the darkness, but with her blurry vision she saw no one.

"April is that you?" she asked, but there was no response.

There was someone there, Irma knew it and she wasn't sure how. Whoever it was, they were too silent to be April. Maybe…

"Hello? I know someone's there," she called again. "Please… I need your help. I… I lost my glasses. I can't see anything without them.

There was no response, but Irma could hear movement in the shadows. The sound of footsteps surrounded her, and Irma's breath caught in her throat as she realized there was more than one other person in the tunnel with her.

There was a scraping sound and Irma guessed someone, or something, had picked her glasses up off the floor.

"H-hello?" Irma asked her voice breaking as wrapped her arms around herself for comfort.

More footsteps and Irma could make out a hulking figure approaching her slowly.

Fear gripped her heart and then…

"Hello?" it said, and Irma let out a breath. Whoever he was, his voice sounded so normal, and actually, a tiny bit shy. Irma knew this didn't necessarily mean the person standing in front of her was normal, but at least he wasn't one of those mutant wolves.

Irma had a suspicion about who this was. After all, who else would be in the sewers?

"Who are you?" Irma asked, her voice rising in pitch.

"It's okay. We're not going to hurt you." His voice was calm and actually quite soothing to listen to. "I'm Leonardo. What's your name?"

"Irma," she managed to reply as he took another step towards her.

Irma felt her heart skip in her chest as her nervousness returned. She felt completely defenseless and if it wasn't for the kindness in his voice, Irma probably wouldn't have been able to speak.

"Can you… can you see me?" Leonardo asked hesitantly, and Irma realized he used the same cautious tone Donatello had in the dark cage when the turtle had warned her not to come any closer.

Irma shook her head. "I can't see much without my glasses."

"Well, that explains why she's not freaking out," came a gruffer voice behind Leonardo.

Irma scowled at the second voice. "Can I have them back, please?" Mentally, she was trying to figure out how many people were in the tunnel with her. Two had spoken so far.

"I… I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Leonardo hedged.

Irma sighed; both relief and annoyance flooding her at the same time. She now had no doubt about who these people were. "You're Donatello's brothers, aren't you?"

There was a long silence before anyone answered her, and when he did, Leonardo's response was slow, careful, and absolutely stunned. "…yes."

"I'm April's friend. Donatello saved us from these mutant wolves and brought us down here to stay safe from them."

"Oh yeah! Irma! April's mentioned you before!" came another voice, bringing the count up to three. This voice sounded much younger and much less serious than the other two.

"Can I have my glasses?" Irma tried again. "I… I won't freak out, I promise."

Leonardo hesitated for a second longer before reaching out to give them to her. Irma saw the faintest of movements and reached out her hand as well, but she had fumbled and missed his hand.

To her surprise, a scaly hand wrapped around her own as she felt a pair of glasses being placed into her palm. He quickly dropped her hand as if he had done something wrong.

Taking a second to collect herself, Irma placed the glasses on her face.

Irma's breath caught in her throat as the world came into focus once again. Staring back at her were the very green faces of three mutants that looked similar to Donatello. The one in front, Leonardo, was watching her with a wary expression. He had a blue mask and kind eyes, but his mouth was set in a serious expression. However, Irma could see a hint of nervousness flicker across his face.

The one behind Leonardo, who was wearing a red mask, didn't have the soft expression his brother had. He was glaring at her, his arms crossed with a scowl on his face. Irma's eyes didn't dare linger on him for long.

The third one, who was smaller than his brothers, was wearing an orange mask. He was standing right beside Leonardo and was staring up at her with an eager, excited expression. Under his gaze, Irma felt like she was a shining new toy.

"Are you okay?" Leonardo asked worriedly. "…you look a little pale."

Irma took another steadying breath. She didn't scream this time, and the mutants were roughly what she expected, so she actually felt a lot better now that she could see their faces.

"Yeah…" she breathed. "Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry… I'm just… trying to get used to this."

Leonardo nodded understandingly, and he actually seemed slightly impressed with her, which made Irma feel a bit better. "This is probably a lot for you."

"Okay, enough with the sappy stuff!" the turtle in red demanded suddenly. "Where are April and my brother?"

"In the tunnels somewhere." She glanced behind her. "We went underground to escape the wolves but we weren't fast enough. They were able to find us and April and Donatello told me to run… so I ran. I was hoping to find you guys."

"So you just left them to fight the wolves by themselves?" the turtle in red accused with a scowl.

Irma glanced at the ground, her cheeks burning with shame.

"Enough, Raph," Leonardo snapped. "We have to go make sure they're okay. Mikey, you get Irma to the lair. Me and Raph will help April and Donnie."

Before Irma could speak, two of the turtles vanished, leaving Irma to shift uncomfortably under the stare of the youngest mutant.

He beamed up at her and she waved uncomfortably at him.

"Hi!" he chirped happily.


	5. Irma Meets the Turtles (part 5)

**Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles**

* * *

**Part 5**

"Hi," she greeted back, adjusting her glasses nervously.

"I'm Michelangelo!"

Irma tried to smile back, but it felt like any smile she gave him would be pathetic compared to his bright grin.

So instead, Irma glanced backwards. "Are… are they going to be okay?"

"Psh!" Michelangelo scoffed, waving his three-fingered hand. "Of course, they're always fine!" He approached her and before she realized what he was doing, the mutant grabbed her hand with his scaly one. "Come on! The lair is this way!"

He pulled her gently, more urging her to follow than forcing. Irma noticed Michelangelo had none of the hesitation his brothers had around her. He didn't seem to notice her own trepidation and he didn't shift awkwardly under her curious gaze like the others had.

And because of this, guiltily, Irma couldn't help but stare. His leathery skin looked rough, but his grip on her hand was surprisingly gentle. His shell moved easily with the rest of his body and Irma marveled at how light on their feet the turtles were with something so heavy to weigh them down. Michelangelo's eyes were a light blue and reflected emotions so human that Irma could almost forget he was a mutant… almost. The freckle-like spots on his checks and rounded face matched his youthful voice and the child-like spring in his step.

Irma allowed him to lead her through the tunnels. He talked non-stop, only pausing to ask her questions.

"So do you like comic books?" he asked.

"Umm… not really. I haven't read many comic books."

Michelangelo gasped. "That's awful! You don't know what you're missing! Don't worry; you can borrow some of mine to read."

"Uh, thanks?"

"Are you hungry? We have some pizza back at the lair."

Irma raised an eyebrow at him. "You guys eat pizza?"

He threw her an amused glance. "Doesn't everybody?"

Irma considered that. "I guess. What kind of pizza toppings do you have?"

"Oh, you know, the usual… worms and maggots but for the vegetarian option we have just plain algae."

Irma felt her stomach turn and she pursed her lips together to hide her disgust. Okay, food was definitely out then.

"Irma?" Michelangelo prodded.

She turned her head to see him staring up at her. "Yeah?"

"That was a joke."

She stared at the turtle for a moment longer and then Irma couldn't help herself. After the crazy day she had, a hysterical, somewhat manic laugh escaped her lips. Once it started, Irma couldn't stop laughing.

Michelangelo's joyous laughter soon joined her own.

Irma had first thought the youngest turtle had been clueless, unaware of her discomfort. But in reality, he had known all along. He had grabbed her hand not because he didn't understand that their differences might make her uncomfortable, but because he was trying to show her it wasn't something either of them had to be afraid of.

Irma immediately liked Michelangelo, and walking with him to his home was the first time she felt safe and comfortable since this whole crazy day started.

Their home, or their lair as the turtles called it, was strangely homey for being located in the sewers.

Michelangelo lead her to the kitchen and, true to his word, the orange-masked turtle got her a slice of pizza. She usually had gluten free products, but today she decided not to care as she bit into the reheated cheese pizza.

"So, how did you guys meet April?" Irma asked. Since they had some time to kill, Irma was eager to get some answers.

The turtle beamed happily at her from his place sitting on top of the kitchen counter, swinging his legs happily. "We met her the first time we went topside. We saved her from being kidnapped by these evil alien guys—long story."

Irma blinked. "She was almost kidnapped?"

The mutant nodded earnestly. "She _was_ kidnapped. We recused her."

"Wait…" Irma thought back to her friend and all the things she had been through this past year. "Her missing dad? The one the police can't find?"

Michelangelo's neck disappeared slightly inside his shell as he looked down at the kitchen counter. "Yeah… that's a long story too. You should ask April about that."

Loud laugher filled the air and Irma recognized the female voice among them. Michelangelo jumped to his feet.

"They're back!" he announced excitedly as he ran to greet them. Irma followed; eager to see her friend unharmed.

What Irma saw enter the abandoned station made her reevaluate everything. April, scuffed up and looking a little worn, was walking side-by-side the other turtles with the brightest smile on her face. Irma hadn't seen April this happy in a year.

Actually, Irma had never seen April smile that wide since she had met her.

The red-masked turtle, the one who had been so gruff and irritable with Irma, had taken this moment to throw one of his large arms around April's shoulder and, in an affectionate gesture, tousled the top of April's hair. However, since her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, he only managed to pull a few strands loose, causing them to fall in April's face. April laughed, and with one hand behind him on his shell, she leaned into the red-masked turtle slightly as if she were giving him a hug without making it obvious.

"You guys were awesome! I'm glad you arrived when you did," April told them.

"Aw, you didn't need us," Leonardo assured her. "I saw the way you were handling things on your own. You and Donnie didn't need much help."

"But it was appreciated," Donatello interjected. "One wolf isn't bad, but they seem to double in strength when they work together."

"Kind of like us then," the turtle in red said with a grin.

"You're back! You're back!" Michelangelo sung as he grabbed the first person he could reach, which just happened to be April, and swung her around.

April laughed and returned his hug. "Good to see you too."

Michelangelo eventually set the girl back down on her feet, but didn't let go until he gave her one more hug for good measure. April laughed in response.

In this moment, Irma was forced the change every notion she already held of this strange little family and April. Irma had thought the turtles were April's friends, but at the sound of April's unhindered laugh, Irma knew that wasn't quite right.

Irma had seen April around friends at school. She had seen how April acted when the two of them hung out together.

Irma knew what April was like when she was around friends, and the way April acted around the turtles was somehow different. There was something else there. Something _more_, something that was simple and obvious, but also something that Irma couldn't quite place.

April's eyes landed on Irma and her grin faded, but only slightly.

"You okay?" April asked, and suddenly everyone's eyes were on her. The turtle in red eyed her guardedly while Leonardo and Donatello watched her with concern. Michelangelo, however, was the only one who seemed unaffected and untroubled by her presence.

Michelangelo's smile helped her relax as she nodded; attempting a smile that she hoped didn't betray her nervousness.

"Yeah, I'm okay. What happened to the wolves?"

"They retreated," Leanardo explained. "They're probably going to regroup with their leader."

"Do you think they'll come back down here again?" Irma asked

Donatello shook his head. "Even if they do, it's unlikely that they'll be able to find the lair. It's a maze down here if you don't know where you're going. Usually they would be able to track our scent, but with the different smells in the sewer it's doubtful they'll find us."

"Okay, this is great and all, but is no one going to explain who this is?" the turtle in red asked, gesturing to Irma with a scowl on his face.

"Dude, this is Irma, duh!" Michelangelo explained rolling his eyes. "I thought we already went over this, bro."

"Okay, but what is she doing here?" he demanded, eyeing her wearily.

All the other turtles had been kind and friendly and even a little shy, but this turtle was none of those things. Irma had to admit his gruffness scared her a little, but it also seemed oddly familiar.

April gave the turtle in red a sideways glare. "This is a friend of mine from school. She was captured by the mutant wolves-"

"Werewolves."

April glanced at Michelangelo, as did his turtle brothers.

"Come on, they're totally werewolves! Not full-moon-bite-you-and-you-turn-into-one werewolves like in the moves, but they're still werewolves!"

They blinked at the youngest turtle.

"Come on guys, at least give me this? When will we ever get to say that we fought werewolves again?"

"Okay…" April relented, "werewolves. Donnie and I were also captured by them and all three of us were locked inside the same cage. We escaped together and the only safe place was to come back here." April glanced earnestly at the turtles in blue and red. "Don't worry, she won't tell anyone about you guys. You can trust her. You know I wouldn't do anything that would put you guys in danger, right?"

To Irma's surprise, the red-masked turtle's expression softened slightly.

"It was my idea to bring her here," Donatello spoke up. "There was no other option." He glanced at Irma with a slight smile. "And besides, I trust her."

Irma smiled back in reply.

"I won't tell anyone about you guys, I promise," Irma heard herself say; surprised at the confidence in her voice. "You guys saved my life and you're April's friends. You're secret is safe with me."

Leonardo smile appreciatively, but frowned when he heard the turtle in red scoff.

"Whatever," the gruff turtle said with a scowl, crossing his arms.

Irma wanted to defend herself. To tell the turtle off and assure him that she was trustworthy, but she was afraid this would cause him to snap at her and she really didn't want to antagonize the mutant, especially since he already didn't seem to like her.

Leonardo must have read her expression, because he smiled assuredly at her. "Don't mind, Raphael. He's really not as scary as he seems."

Something snapped in Irma, and not wanting Raphael to think she was intimidated by him, she crossed her arms with a determined smirk on her face. "Who said I think he's scary?"

"Oooh! I like her! You hear that, Raph?" Mikey teased as he poked Raphael on the arm. "She's not scared of you."

Raphael growled, his eye twitching, and before Irma could blink, Raphael lunged for his younger brother and the next thing Irma knew, Michelangelo was on the floor shouting 'uncle! uncle!'

Irma took a sharp intake of breath, scared for Michelangelo's safety

Irma was about to protest, but was immediately calmed by Leonardo's exasperated tone. "Come on guys, enough. We have a real problem here we need to deal with." He rolled his eyes as if this was a common occurrence.

Watching closely as Raphael let Mikey up; Irma was relieved to see that Michelangelo was unharmed. The orange-masked turtle even bravely stuck his tongue out as Raphael, which the hot-headed turtle chose to ignore.

Irma felt herself relax. They fought not like enemies, but like brothers; none of them attempting to deal any real damage to each other.

"Leo's right," April said. "We have to figure out what we're going to do about the…" She glanced at Mikey's hopeful gaze and sighed. "…werewolves."

"What about Splinter?" Raphael asked. "He's not exactly going to be thrilled about her being here." He gestured to Irma.

Worry dropped into Irma's stomach once again. Irma had heard about of one other person living with them, to which she remembered April and Donatello calling sensei, but she hadn't thought much of him until now. She guessed he was another mutant. Another turtle maybe?

"Splinter is probably meditating right now," Donatello said nervously. "He doesn't need to know until we get all this sorted out."

"He doesn't need to know what, Donatello?" came an older, male voice behind Irma.

Irma jumped in surprise, whirled around, and let out a high-pitched squeak as she saw what was behind her. She stumbled backwards as the rat mutant approached; her legs no longer working correctly. To her relief, she felt April's steadying hands on her arm. April squeezed her arm comfortingly and the scream that was building up in Irma's throat suddenly vanished.

The rat-man looked down at her, considering her with a stone face. At least the turtle's faces were full of human-like expressions and emotions, but this creature was staring at her with unreadable, cold eyes. Irma could feel the hairs on her arm standing up and her body felt like ice. She had been wrong. None of the turtles were scary. The werewolves weren't scary. This mutant, however, was terrifying.

"Master Splinter!" April greeted with a surprised, overly-friendly edge to her voice. "This is my friend Irma. And umm, you see…"

"I suspect you have a good reason for bringing her here?" The rat man asked. To Irma's surprise, when addressing April, his voice wasn't nearly as cold as Irma thought it would be. He had a strict, no-nonsense tone that matched his rigid posture, but there was a softness in his voice that if Irma listened hard enough she could detect. He certainly didn't seem happy with them, but he wasn't exactly angry either.

"I do," April assured him. "It's because-"

"It was my idea, sensei," Donatello interrupted, causing Splinter to look at him instead. "Irma, April and I were all captured by these wolf mutants-"

"Werewol-mphh"

Raphael clamped a hand over Michelangelo's mouth. "Not now, Mikey."

"We escaped, but they would have hunted us down if any of us stayed topside. We had to bring Irma to the lair."

"She's okay, sensei," Leonardo spoke up. "She's not going to tell anyone about us."

"I see," Splinter said, turning his attention back to Irma.

Irma's breathe caught in her throat as she stared wide-eyed at the mutant. Irma liked rats; or at least she used to before the rat king thing. However, she was just starting to get used to the turtles appearance. Adding another mutant to the bunch was a bit more than she could handle in one day. She felt a little faint as her heart pounded in her ears.

"Then by the sounds of things you have had quite a day," Splinter said and Irma blinked at the sudden kindness in his voice. "You are a friend of Aprils and that makes you a friend of ours. As long as you keep us a secret, you are welcome here." He gave her a slight bow of his head. Awkwardly, Irma nodded in return.

"Th-thanks…" she managed to stumble out.

"Are you serious, sensei?" Raph asked angrily. "That's it? We just met her and now we trust her to keep our secret? We don't really know her-"

"Raphael, that is enough," Splinter demanded, silencing Raphael in an instant. When he spoke again, Splinter's voice was softer. "I know you are concerned; however, it is not so much her I trust, but April. I trust that April would not bring someone down here that she thinks would endanger us. Do you disagree?"

Raphael looked away. "No sensei."

"A year ago I might not have been open to the idea," Splinter continued, "but from recent experiences I have found that April's friends are people that we can trust." It was hard to tell with the fur and rat-mouth, but Irma believed Splinter was smiling at him softly; a knowing glint in his eyes. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Now Raphael looked conflicted, but then he sighed. "Hai sensei."

Splinter nodded approvingly and, to Irma's surprise, gave her a small wink.

"Now, we need to discuss the matter of these new mutants, but first I could use a cup of tea. Splinter looked at April. "April, would you and Irma help me prepare the tea?"

April flashed him a grin. "Hai sensei!"

April grabbed Irma's arm tighter and led her to the kitchen with Splinter following behind them. Irma looked from April to Splinter in confusion. April had answered Splinter in Japanese exactly like Raphael had done. It wasn't that Irma was surprised that April knew some Japanese's, it was just that… she had answered him so naturally. April just seemed to fit in amongst the turtles. They trusted her and knew her as if she were a seamless part of their life.

To Irma's astonishment, Splinter reached down and placed a clawed hand on April's shoulder, causing the girl to stop walking and look up at him.

He smiled down at her with warmth in his eyes that stunned Irma. He had been so cold and expressionless when Irma had first saw him, and now, he was gentle, strong, kind and fatherly all at once.

"I am glad you are safe, April," he told her with a relief in his voice that told Irma that he meant it.

April smiled up at him, her shoulders relaxing from the stress of the day. "Me too, Master Splinter. I'm glad everyone's alright."

With a smile, Splinter placed a caring hand on top of April's head for a brief moment before he made his way into the kitchen.

And then, Irma figured it out. She had figured out what she had seen between April and the strange mutants she hung out with. Irma couldn't put words to it before, but now she knew.

They weren't just April's friends.

They were her family.

And the reason April fit in so well was because this was where she belonged.

**I hope you like it so far! There will be at least one or two more chapters left! And then I will move on to chapter 2 which will be something completely different!**

**Please review and let me know what you think so far! For news on updates go to textsfromturtles on tumblr.**


	6. Irma Meets the Turtles (part 6)

**Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles**

* * *

**Part 6**

"So… you're their father," Irma said after Splinter finished the tale of how they were mutated and became a family. With all Irma had seen today, she didn't find any of this hard to believe.

"That is correct." Splinter was sitting at the head of the table across from her. The two humans and mutant rat were calmly waiting for the tea to be ready to drink.

Irma was starting to feel much more relaxed around Splinter. He was very patient with her, and it amazed her that he managed to raise not just four mutant boys on his own, but also turn them into ninjas as well.

Irma turned to April. "And Mikey mentioned that you met them because someone kidnaped you and your father? He said it was aliens, but…" Irma hesitated. She didn't know if she should believe the youngest turtle or not. She doubted Mikey would lie to her, but aliens? Really?

"They're called the Kraang and they really are aliens from other dimension," April explained. "They're actually the ones that brought the mutagen to this dimension." The red-head raised her eyebrow in amusement. "And since when did you start calling him Mikey?"

Irma blushed. She didn't really know where that had come from. "Am I not supposed to?"

April shook her head with a laugh. "No, it's fine, it's just that… you're starting to see the guys like I see the guys. It's just… nice is all."

Irma smiled down at the table. "Yeah… I'm still trying to get used to everything, but I think every new surprise is getting a little easier to handle."

"I know what you mean," April agreed. "And about my dad… I'll explain about him later, okay?" April avoided her friend's eyes. "I… I don't really want to be thinking about that when we have to deal with the werewolf problem."

Irma frowned worriedly at her friend. Whatever happened to April's dad, Irma could tell that the wounds were still fresh.

"The tea should be ready now," Master splinter said. "April? Could you retrieve my sons for me?"

"Hai sensei," April responded obediently with a smile and stood up. She left the kitchen and Irma could hear April calling for the guys.

Master Splinter turned to Irma and she fidgeted slightly under his gaze. She wondered if he had gotten April to leave because he wanted to address her alone. The thought made her slightly nervous. What would he want to talk to her about?

"April has been having a very tough year," Master Splinter explained, his voice soft. "It's been the hardest year of her life and I'm afraid it is far from over."

Irma glanced in the direction April had left.

"She seems pretty happy," Irma stated. "I mean, I know her dad's disappearance has been tough on her, especially how he reappeared and then disappeared again, but she always seemed like… I don't know… like she was still okay."

Master Splinter stroked the long hair hanging from his chin. "Yes. Although she's had a rough time that isn't to say that April isn't happy. Or as happy as she can be right now. She had her hope that things will get better, her training, and she has my sons. Above all, April has someone to share her burden with."

"Plus, she's really stubborn," Irma added in, causing Splinter to chuckle.

"That she is." Splinter smiled. "April is family to us. I'm glad I get to know another friend from her world that cares about her."

"Wait, another?" Irma asked, but at the same time April returned with four turtles trailing behind her.

"Ah, it looks like we're all here," Splinter said. His sons sat next to him, and April sat next to Irma at the end of the table. Donatello seemed to change his mind half-way between picking a seat and sat next to April instead.

Leonardo served the tea to everyone, serving himself last. There seemed to be some sort of unspoken order to this and Irma sat back to observe silently. Finally, everyone had their tea and Master Splinter spoke.

"Now, what are you planning to do about these new mutants?"

"We know there are at least eight of them," Donatello said, "and I doubt that the zoo would have kept many more than that. We know about the wolves called Alpha, Beta and Omega; we fought one other one in the gift shop and then there were the four that followed us into the sewers. That makes eight."

"How do you know that none of those guys were Alpha?" Raphael asked. "You said you never saw him."

"Because Alpha is probably the largest one of the bunch and all those wolves seemed pretty much the same size. I'm sure when we meet Alpha we'll know it's him," Donatello reasoned.

"Okay, how are we going to stop them?" Leonardo asked. "Like Donnie said, they're stronger as a group and now that they know our strength it doesn't seem likely that they will separate again."

"Isn't it obvious? We go after Alpha first!" Raphael declared. "Take out their leader and then they won't have anyone to follow. Once they're weakened we can take care of the rest."

"Yeah, let's go after the strongest probably most thoroughly guarded member of the group first when they're expecting us. There is no way that could possibly go wrong," Donatello said sarcastically.

Raphael glared at him. "Oh yeah? What's your plan? Probably some way to trick them instead of fighting like a coward!"

"Hey! Just because I value smarts over getting killed like an idiot doesn't make me a-"

"Guys, stop it," April interrupted loudly. "Fighting each other isn't going to help."

Raphael huffed and crossed his arms, but to Irma's surprise, he allowed April to continue. Donatello looked at April expectantly.

"We could probably take them," April agreed, nodding to Raphael. "But not without risking one of us getting seriously hurt. We have to at least have a plan."

Irma noticed how efficiently April kept the peace between brothers, appeasing both of them but being reasonable, much like an older sister would do.

April looked to Leo expectantly.

"What do we know about wolves?" Leo asked. "What could be their possible weaknesses? Don-"

"Well, the mutants used to be grey wolves and grey wolves usually live in nuclear families with around five to eleven members," Irma began. "A wolfs auditory perception is sharper than a fox and they're able to hear up to a frequency of 26 kilohertz. I don't know about the mutants. Maybe their hearing is even better? A grey wolf's sense of smell is also good. Not as good as hunting dogs, but they can detect their prey up to 3 kilometers away-"

Irma stopped. They were all staring at her. She shifted uncomfortably, her hands tightening on her teacup.

"What?" she asked, her face heating up slightly.

"I was going to ask Donnie, but his works too," Leonardo said with an ever-growing smile.

"Great, now we have two Donnie's!" Raphael exclaimed loudly. "As if April being a nerd wasn't bad enough-OW!" he hissed as April kicked him under the table. She actually kicked him hard enough to make a_ ninja_ yelp; Irma was impressed.

"Well, I guess if we can have two Raphs then we can have two Donnies." Michelangelo said thoughtfully. "Hey, when are we going to get two Mikeys?

"Never!" Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and April all said at once.

Michelangelo just grinned "You're right; the world isn't ready for two of me."

"That's for sure," Raphael scoffed.

"Seriously Irma," Leonardo said, focusing the group back on her. "How do you know all that?"

Irma didn't know if she should feel proud or embarrassed, so her stomach fluttered with a little of both. "I've kinda got it thing for trivia like that. I'm really good at remembering facts."

Donatello put a hand to his chin. "That thing you mentioned about the wolves' hearing… we might be able to make that work for us instead of against us. You guys have heard of a galton whistle, right?"

They all stared at him.

Donatello sighed in exasperation. "A dog whistle?" he clarified.

Comprehension dawned on the faces surrounding the genius.

"A dog whistle emits a sound in the ultrasonic range," Donatello explained, "which people cannot hear but some animals can; dogs and wolves for example. If the frequency of the whistle is too high it can cause pain to animals, but because the frequency is above the range of human hearing, and mutant turtle hearing, we won't be affected. All I would have to do is build a device that emits this high frequency, which will be incredibly simple."

"How is that going to help us?" Raphael asked dubiously. "Annoy them to death?"

"Or make them unable to fight… or escape," Donatello clarified.

"So you _are_ trying to avoid a fight!" Raphael insisted, crossing his arms.

"Raph, think about it," Leonardo interrupted. "We don't need any more enemies. Even if we beat these werewolves they could still come back, or worse, team up with our enemies. Donnie's plan makes sense. As long as we have something we can always use against them, they won't be able to cross us. It's the best way to keep the city safe."

Raphael sighed. "Fine, but I won't be happy until we see some action."

Donatello frowned thoughtfully. "It shouldn't take me very long to make the device, but in the meantime we need to know what's going on topside. We won't be able to surface until it gets dark so we need to know as much as we can until then."

April opened her mouth. "I can-"

"NO!" Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo all said at once, causing April's mouth to snap closed.

"You're not going topside right now, April," Leonardo ordered. "It's way too dangerous."

"Yeah, the wolves are still hunting you!" Donatello added.

"Have you gone crazy?" Michelangelo asked in horror.

April rolled her eyes. "Umm, guys? I was just going to say I could put on the news so we can see what's going on," April explained with a small smirk on her face.

The four of the turtle's mouths formed small 'o's and Irma could swear it looked like they were blushing.

"Uh… yeah, that sounds like a good idea, April," Leo agreed, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

Irma glanced at Master Splinter. For a father, he was rather quiet when his sons were planning to go into battle. Irma knew her parents would never allow her to do such dangerous things. But then again, her parents weren't masters of ninjutsu and she wasn't a mutant ninja.

After the tea, April, Irma and three of the four turtles moved to the pit, which held the television and a sunken bench. April and Irma sat together on the bench and Leonardo sat on the floor next to April's feet, leaning the back of his shell on the side of the bench. Raphael had his head in a magazine a few feet from them. He didn't even look up at the TV.

Donatello had disappeared into another room, presumably to build the device he said he would make.

Michalangelo had taken a detour to his room and brought back a small gaming system, which he played at low volume while sitting next to Irma. Irma suspected watching the news wasn't his thing.

The news had talked a bit about the escaped animals in the zoo and how someone must have broken them out of the exhibit. They watched the news for a half an hour but there was nothing about people being attacked or kidnapped. Some people who were at the zoo gave an account of what they saw, but there had been no new sighting since then.

"They're smart," Leonardo noted. "They know the public will be looking for them so they're being careful."

Donatello entered the room again, a bright smile on his face. "Okay, it's done!" He held up a small silver device that was about the size of a toaster. Wait…. was that a toaster?"

"It that a toaster?" Irma heard herself ask.

Donatello's smile faltered slightly. "Well, it used to be a toaster before I modified it. We don't exactly get the best equipment to work with down here."

"But a toaster?" she asked again in amazement.

Donatello frowned at her, slightly insulted. "I just used the toaster for the base and some of the wiring. The rest is complex machinery!" he insisted.

"Oh, can I see?" Michelangelo asked as he materialized beside Donatello and grabbed the toaster from his hands and studied it with interest.

"No!" Donatello grabbed it back. "You'll break it like you break everything else!" The young inventor took a calming breath and held the toaster out for everyone to see. "This dial on the side controls the frequency of the sound it produces. All we do is flip the dial here and turn it all the way up." He did just that.

"Dude, I can't hear anything," Michalangelo commented, giving his brother a pat on the shell. "I think it's broken."

"You're not going to hear anything, numbskull! That's the point!" Donatello snapped. "Only the wolves will be able to hear it and it should hurt them just enough to make it impossible for them to fight or run away." Donatello turned the machine off.

"Okay, but then how do we know if it works?" Raphael asked from his reclined position on the bench.

Donatello gave him a_ look_.

"When do my inventions ever not work?" he asked with a smug grin.

"Hmm, let's see…" Raph began counting on his three-fingered hand. "There was that one time where you blew up the lab, that one time where you almost blew up yourself, and that other time you almost blew up Mikey, but I can't really blame you for that one. He was getting really annoying."

"Hey!" Michelangelo protested.

"Those don't count!" Donatello almost whined in protest. "This project was simple! There is no way I could mess up a design like this!"

"Now, if only we knew what those wolves are up to topside," Leonardo mused. "Then we could figure out a plan. It's still way too early for us to go up there."

To Irma's surprise, Raphael stood up, took out his phone and started to walk towards them. He dialed a few numbers and held the phone up to his head.

"Umm, Raph, what are you doing?" Leonardo asked.

Raph rolled his eyes. "What does it look like I'm doing? You said we need info on what's going on topside. I'm calling Casey."

Irma blinked, her mouth falling open. "Wait, Casey? As in, Casey Jones?"

Raph gave her an unimpressed look. "Yeah…"

Irma looked at April who was smiling sheepishly. "Oh yeah… about Casey," she began, but Casey had already answered his phone.

"Hey man," Raphael greeted.

Irma couldn't hear Casey's response on the other line, but she guessed it was some sort of greeting.

"Yeah, listen," Raph continued. "We have a mutant problem and we-"

Raph smirked at whatever Casey had said.

"Yes, you'll get to hit stuff. At least…" He glared at his purple-masked brother. "We'd better."

Casey said a few more things, and Irma couldn't help but marvel at how strange the situation was. There was a large mutant turtle talking on a phone as if he were just a normal teenager. Whenever Irma was staring to get used to the situation, something like this would hit her over the head and remind her how strange it all was.

"Some mutagen landed in the zoo and mutated a pack of wolves. They escaped and now they're hunting humans-"

Raphael sighed in exasperation at something Casey said.

"What do you think?" Raphael asked.

A pause.

"Of course we have her! Don't be an idiot."

Irma glanced at April, but she wasn't the only one. Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo had also looked at the girl; leaving Irma with no doubt about who Raphael had been talking about.

"Put Casey on speaker," Leonardo suggested.

Raphael nodded and pushed a button. "Hey, Case, you're on speaker."

"Hey, Casey," Leonardo greeted.

"'Sup, Leo! So, you guys need my expertise?"

"Well… mostly we need someone who can walk around in broad daylight that the wolves haven't seen yet, but uh… that works too."

Casey laughed. "Ouch, okay I get it. You only need me 'cause I'm human. Alright, where are these wolves?"

"We're not sure," April told him. "We have a plan to fight them, but we need to know where they are first."

"Not to complain, Red, but you know how big New York is, right?"

"We wish we had more to go on too," April agreed. "But we can't leave until it gets dark and the more we know the better."

"Alright, I'll let you know if I find out anything," Casey agreed.

"If you find out where they are you have to wait for us, don't try to take them down on your own. Did you hear me Casey Jones?" April demanded.

"Yeah, yeah, Red, I gotcha. I'll call when I find something. See ya guys. See ya Raph."

"See ya," Raphael said as he ended the call.

Irma immediately turned to April. "Casey knows about all of this?"

April raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you really that surprised?"

Irma paused, a frown forming on her face. "No… I guess not. And now I guess I know where you two disappear to all the time."

"Now what do we do?" Mikey asked Leonardo.

"Until it gets dark there isn't much we can do. We wait and hope Casey can come through for us."

Raphael scoffed and at first Irma thought he was going to say something negative about Casey. After all, he had been negative towards her all day, but then the mutant turtle smirked.

"Don't worry about Casey, he'll track them down," Raphael said confidently. "We just gotta be ready when he does."


	7. Irma Meets the Turtles (part 7)

**Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles**

* * *

**Part 7 **

Irma thought hanging out with mutant ninja's would be the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her.

She thought there wouldn't be an ordinary moment in their secret lair; a place that sheltered a powerful family from the eyes of the human race.

Irma thought the mundaneness of human life and the concept of boredom could not touch her while she was so far removed from the world.

"Got any threes?"

"Go fish," Irma said. She smirked slightly as she watched the youngest turtle pout and take a card from the dwindling deck. Irma and April sat together on the sunken bench with a deck of cards and their own matched pairs lying between them. Irma and April were roughly equal with the amount of cards in their hands and matched sets between them.

Michelangelo sat on the floor facing the couch. He was leaning forward slightly with his arms resting on the edge of the bench. He had four times the amount of cards in his hand than Irma and April had combined.

"Have any nines, Irma?" April asked. Irma handed over her nine of hearts. April added it to her nine of clubs and placed them both face up on the bench.

"Aww, why didn't you take my nine? I have way too many cards. I can't hold them all!" Michelangelo complained lightheartedly as he struggled to maneuver his overwhelming amount of cards. Some of the cards were sideways and others were tucked so far beneath the others Irma wondered if Michelangelo knew the cards were there.

Irma let out a small laugh as she placed her own cards face down on the bench.

"Here, like this," she instructed as she took the cards from Michelangelo's three-fingered grip. She quickly organized them facedown so she wouldn't see what they were and then fanned them out away from her face. With her left hand, she grabbed Michelangelo's hand and placed his fingers at bottom center of the arrangement of cards, which allowed him to hold all the cards together with just two fingers like he was holding a fan.

"Ohh… Hey! That's much better!" Michelangelo gawked and the new arrangement. His attention snapped back to her and his smile seemed to light up the room around him. "Thanks Irma!"

Irma had heard of people "beaming" or smiles that "radiated joy" and she had always thought those expressions were a bit far-fetched… until she met Michelangelo.

"No problem." She picked up her own cards. Glancing up at April, she was surprised to see the girl considering her with a small smile on her face.

"What?" Irma asked her.

April shook her head. "Nothing."

Donatello, who had spent the last half hour scouring the internet and listening in on 911 calls for any sighting of wolves, came over to join them. From his position standing next to them, he had a good view of everyone's hands.

"Hey Donnie," April greeted.

"No!" Michelangelo suddenly shouted and threw his body over all his cards, even the ones that had already been matched. "You can't play, Donnie! You'll ruin everything!"

Irma blinked and looked up at Donatello who was less than amused.

"I wasn't going to ask to play. I was just going to watch," Donatello assured tersely.

"No! That's worse!" Michelangelo complained, still not removing his body from blocking Donnie's view of the cards.

Irma looked at April for some sort or explanation but the girl looked just as mystified as she did. Good, at least it was nice to know she wasn't the only one confused.

"Why can't Donnie watch us finish playing?" April asked. "We're almost done anyway and we can deal him in the next round."

Michelangelo gave the red-headed girl a pleading look. "April, you don't understand what he's like! Never play cards with Donnie! Ever!"

Donatello rolled his eyes. "Really Mikey, it's not that big of a deal. Irma is going to win no matter what I say."

Mikey clamped a hand over where Irma assumed his ears were and groaned. "Not again!"

Donatello didn't seem to notice him as he continued. "Irma only has two cards left, the King of diamonds and the ten of clubs. She's going to ask one of you for her cards, but she's most likely going to ask you for a King, Mikey, since we heard you ask April for that card a few turns ago, but April didn't have it. Then she'll ask someone for her last card, which none of you have. However, she'll pull the last card she needs from the top of the deck." He nodded to Irma. "Go ahead. It's the ten you need."

Irma looked at April who shrugged and glanced at the deck expectantly.

Irma took the top card and flipped it.

It was the ten of hearts.

Irma gaped at the card and then looked up at Donatello.

"How did you do that?" She asked, a smile tugging up the corners of her mouth.

Donatello laughed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"He cheated!" Mikey groaned, his pout growing.

"I did not cheat! It's just the law of probability," Donatello explained.

"It's just the law of taking the fun out of everything!" Michelangelo snapped.

"Mikey, that doesn't make any sense," the purple-masked turtle corrected.

"You don't make sense!"

Donatello sighed.

"See!" Michelangelo said, pointing at Donatello. "This is why he can't play! He always ruins the game!"

"Okay, but seriously, how did you do that?" Irma asked again. "You could have been wrong about what card would come up next."

Donatello shrugged. "I could have been, but I wasn't. I counted the cards that were already played. You guys hadn't had a ten in play other than the one in your hand, and that means there were three in that deck, making the probability of you pulling a ten much higher. There also aren't that many cards left and most of them are the matches to Mikey's hand. It was just more likely that your card would come up next, and even if it hadn't been the next one, the probably would increase with each card pulled. You have the most matches and the likelihood that you would have lost was less than three percent… uh, sorry April," he added as an afterthought.

April just waved his concern away with a hand as she began to pick up her cards.

"You're a genius, aren't you?" Irma said suddenly. She had known Donatello had been smart; after all, he had built the device that was going to help them stop the wolves, but it was just starting to sink in how smart he really was.

"Oh… heh… well…" Donatello laughed uncomfortably.

"He is," April agreed. "He's pretty much the smartest guy there is."

At April's comment, Donatello blushed deeper than a turtle had the right to.

A ringing sound filled the air, and suddenly everyone was on alert as they looked at Raphael who pulled out his phone. Raphael looked at the number.

"It's Casey," the red-masked turtle confirmed.

Quickly, everyone crowded around Raphael's phone as he answered it, immediately putting it on speaker.

"Hey Case, you find anything?" Raphael asked.

At first, there was nothing but static and Raph's forehead creased with worry.

"Case? You there, bud?" he called.

The static began to come through the phone almost rhythmically, and Irma realized what it was. Casey was breathing hard into the phone. Was he running? It sounded like wind was rushing by.

"Hey… hey guys," Casey's voice finally came through the speaker, but it was ragged and the sound kept cutting in and out.

"Casey, what's going on?" Leonardo demanded. "Are you okay? Did you find out anything about the wolves."

"Hiyah!" Casey shouted and they could hear the sound of a stick connecting with something very large. Snarls and whimpers poured through the phone.

"The wolves?" Casey laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah, I found them. Well, one of them actually. Hey you fur ball, you want a piece of me? That's what I thought! Hold on a second." The sound of a fight burst through the phone accompanied with the crackling of static.

April inched closer to the phone and Raphael's face was set in a serious scowl.

Loud breathing came through the phone. "Sorry, yeah, the wolves are in Central Park. I figured they would go somewhere that reminds them of their home in the zoo, you know? But when I got to the park and followed their tracks this wolf snuck up on me. Oh, it's coming back."

Casey let out another battle cry and the sound of fighting continued.

"We should help him!" Michelangelo insisted, but Raphael shook his head.

"Casey's got this."

"Raph's right, plus it's still too light for us to go topside," Leonardo added.

"But… but what if something happens?" Michelangelo asked fearfully. Irma watched April and the turtles tense as they listened to the sounds of battle. April and Michelangelo would wince every time Casey cried out and Raphael was gripping the phone so hard Irma was surprised it hadn't broken under the pressure.

"Hold on a second!" Donatello exclaimed suddenly as he turned and practically launched himself across the room. Irma watched him leave in confusion.

"Okay… I think I-" Casey began, but seemed to be interrupted by something. "Oh come on! Just stay down already!" he exclaimed.

Donatello came back with the modified toaster in his arms.

"Casey, can you hear me?" Donatello asked.

"A little busy here, Donnie," Casey grunted.

"Put your phone on speaker and turn the volume all the way up!"

"What, why?" Casey asked.

"It's a test run! Now just do it!" Donatello shouted at him.

"Now I'm the guinea pig. And here I thought I was needed because I was human," Casey grumbled to himself.

Donatello flipped the dial and turned it all the way up. Irma assumed Casey had done what Donatello had told him, because in the next moment howls of anguish came through the phone.

"Whoa," they heard Casey breathe.

After a moment, Donatello turned down the dial and the howling stopped. There was a moment of silence before a rustling sound and then Casey's voice came back on the phone.

"The wolf ran off. What did you do? He just started holding his ears and howling."

"It's our secret weapon. Well… not so secret anymore but at least we know it works," Donatello explained.

"Casey, what part of 'wait for us' and 'don't try to take them down on your own' did you not understand?" April seethed.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault, Red! He snuck up on me!" Casey defended.

"Because you got too close!" April exclaimed. "Once you thought that they might be in Central Park you should have waited for us."

"But I had to be sure," Casey explained.

"Well, regardless," Leonardo interrupted. "It will be dark in an hour and we'll meet Casey outside of Central Park. Casey will stay out of the park until then. Does that work for everyone?"

Everyone nodded and Casey gave a defeated, "Yeah…"

* * *

"So does Captain Ryan always save the day, or does his crew ever get a chance to shine?" Irma asked as the episode of Space Heroes came to a close.

She was sitting next to a giant ninja turtle and watching a sci-fi series while they waited to take down mutated wolves who had taken over Central Park. Irma didn't know what was stranger, the situation, or the fact it was starting to feel _normal._

"Most the time Captain Ryan just saves the day with his awesome leadership, but yeah… sometimes his crew saves the day too." Leonardo explained. "In this one episode, they get a new transfer crewmate and he didn't quite fit in on the ship. But then, they ran into some trouble with this hostile alien race, and the new guy ended up saving the day… along with Captain Ryan too of course."

"Of course," Irma said; her head resting on her chin as she watched the credits roll.

In one swift motion, Leonardo got to his feet. He hesitated for only a second before he held out his hand and offered to help Irma up. Irma accepted the gesture and was lifted to her feet before she could blink. She forgot how strong they were when they were just sitting around doing normal teenager things.

"Okay, I think it's time," Leonardo called. "Everyone ready to go?"

It didn't take long before the rest of the turtles and April crowded around, excited grins on their faces.

"Okay, this should be relatively simple," Leonardo began. "We'll sneak up on the werewolves in the park. We need as many wolves to be there as possible for this to work. Donnie will activate the device and Alpha will be forced to negotiate with us. We'll tell him that his pack has to live peacefully in New York and stop attacking humans or Donnie will spread that frequency all over New York. You could do that, right Donnie?" Leonardo asked his brother.

Donatello gave him a gaped-toothed grin. "Of course I can."

"They won't have any choice but to agree." As Leonardo finished he turned to Irma. "Irma, you should stay here. We'll need to be able to sneak up on the wolves and only those with ninja training will be able to pull it off."

Irma opened her mouth. She felt like she should argue, like she should protest being left behind, but she also felt relieved. She really didn't want to face those wolves again. Feeling ashamed at her own cowardice, Irma closed her mouth and nodded her head. "Alright, I guess that makes sense."

"Don't worry," April assured her, "we'll be back before you know it."

"Not with that plan you won't," came a gravely, although feminine voice, from the turnstiles.

The turtles and April drew their weapons immediately as they turned to face the intruder. A dark grey werewolf with scars on her snout and bright yellow eyes studied them carefully. She was female and both smaller and younger than Beta had been; however, her eyes had a cleverness that many of the wolves did not.

"How did you find us?" Leonardo demanded, his grip tightening on his katana.

"Who cares how she found us? Let's show her the door," Raphael snarled.

"Please," the werewolf said as she held up a paw. She took a step forward and Irma realized she was limping. "I do not wish to fight."

"Well, you should have thought of that before you invaded our home!" Raphael shot back.

"I have come to you because I wish to help. My name is Zeta, and I am no longer with Alpha's pack."

"Oh yeah, like we're going to believe that," Donatello scoffed.

"It's true," the werewolf insisted, a desperate plea to her voice. "Even when I was a normal wolf, I was never really an accepted member of the pack. When we… we became this… they kept me around because of my advanced sense of smell, which is how I was able to track you to your home in the sewer where my kin could not. However, I disagree with Alpha's plan to hunt human and take the city. Unlike the rest, I do not hate humans. I'm just happy to finally be free, but the others can't see that. Alpha has filled their mind with this new vendetta and when I told Alpha I would not continue to help, Alpha ordered my brothers to attack me. I barely escaped with my life."

"And so you came here?" April asked.

The werewolf nodded. "Yes, after the attack on Delta and hour ago, Alpha has learned of your weapon that pierces the ears. He will not allow you to sneak up on the pack so easily. They know you are coming."

"Alright… I'll bite," Leonardo began. "How would you help us?"

"I know where my pack… my old pack," she corrected, "is located in the park. I can get you close without being detected. All I ask is that you shield me from your weapon that harms the ears and allow me to stand with you against my old pack."

"You would betray them?" Leonardo asked cautiously. Irma realized he had lowered his katanas to the ground somewhere in the conversation.

"I must," Zeta stressed with a growl in her voice. "What they are doing is even worse than what the humans did to us."

"How many wolves are there?" Donatello asked. "We thought there were only eight."

Zeta shook her head. "There are nine. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Theta, Sigma, Tau, Omega and me. I know Tau, Sigma, Theta and Gamma followed you into the sewers earlier today, and you fought Omega and Delta in the zoo when the three of you escaped. The only ones who you have not fought are Alpha, Beta and me. That makes nine."

"Okay, one last question," Raphael said, gritting his teeth. "Why should we trust you?"

The werewolf stared at him with steady eyes and Raphael glared back unflinchingly.

"Because," Zeta said, holding her head up proudly. "I know the pack better than you do, and you need all the help you can get."

**I think the next chapter is going to be the last of chapter 1, Irma Meets the Turtles. At least, I'm going to try my best to finish the story up in part 8. It will probably be a long one though. Then, I'll post chapter 2 of this story called Last Words, which will pretty much be a separate story from Irma Meets the Turtles**

**Please review! Tell me what you think so far! **


	8. Irma Meets the Turtles (part 8)

**Okay! Here is the very last part! After this, I will be starting chapter 2 of this story. **

**Sorry for any grammar mistakes. This is over twice the size of my normal chapters and so I know more mistakes probably slipped through than usual. I will probably go back and reread the chapter again soon to fix them. **

* * *

**Chapter 1: Irma Meets the Turtles**

* * *

**Part 8**

The turtles decided their best chance was to allow Zeta to help them. Donatello gave her a pair of noise canceling headphones and told her to put them on as soon as he turned the dial on the device.

Splinter, according to the turtles, was in deep mediation and did not see them off. However, Irma did and she wished them good luck before they ran off through the tunnels. April had given her a hug, Michelangelo had given her a smile, Donnie a wave, Raphael an annoyed grunt, and Leonardo a half-salute that mimicked one that Captain Ryan had given his crew.

Irma couldn't help but smile after them. She was starting to understand why April spent so much time with them.

Worry gripped her chest as she thought about where they were running to do, but it wasn't just for April's sake.

_Please be safe, _she thought.

Irma clenched her fists. She felt so useless left here in the lair. Although she knew she would be a hindrance if she had tagged along, she wished there was at least something she could do to help.

Biting her lip, she looked at Donatello's computer. Perhaps there was something she could find on the internet about wolves, or on the zoo's website about the wolf pack? Would Donatello mind if she used his computer?

After a long moment of indecision, Irma decided she couldn't stand doing nothing any longer. The computer was left on, and there was no password needed much to Irma's relief.

Irma blinked as she minimized a window and her friend's freckled face stared back at her. Irma stared, her mouth parting slightly.

_Oh._

Irma couldn't help herself as she did a quick look through Donatello's computer and found that he had quite a lot of pictures of April.

If it had been anyone else, Irma would have warned her friend as soon as possible and told her to stay away from the guy. However, Irma couldn't bring herself to believe that Donatello meant April any harm. It was a little weird that he had so many pictures of her, but it wasn't like Irma had never gotten obsessive over a crush before. It was kind of … sweet actually; in weird way. Irma remembered how Donatello would blush around April and how murderous he got when April was hurt or threatened. She couldn't believe she had missed it before.

Irma wondered if April knew about her friend's crush on her. She had a feeling April did. April was pretty perceptive about those kinds of things.

Pushing her new discovery from her mind, Irma concentrated on what she had originally been looking for.

After a few minutes, Irma found herself on the Zoo's website and-

_Wait._

_Wait a minute._

_But this doesn't make any sense!_

_Why-_

Irma's eyes widened. Something was terribly wrong. This didn't make any sense, but as dread twisted in her gut, Irma knew one thing for sure:

April and the guys were in big trouble.

Irma dialed April's number and as the phone rang she tapped her fingers against Donnie's computer impatiently.

When Irma got April's message machine, she hung up with a frustrated cry. She didn't have any of the turtle's numbers, but she did have Casey's.

He didn't answer either, but she wasn't sure if it was because he didn't hear it ring or because he didn't want to take her call. After all, before today Irma wouldn't have taken his.

Irma jumped up, already making up her mind. She had to get this new development to April and the guys before it was too late.

Irma ran for the turnstile, trying to remember all the twists and turns she had made while coming into the lair. She wasn't sure if she could remember how to get to the surface.

"And where are you going?" A voice asked from behind her.

Irma skidded to a stop as she turned around to face Splinter guiltily. She knew the guys had told her to say in the lair where it was safe, but she just couldn't!

"They're in trouble!" Irma blurted out. "I don't know exactly what's going on, but I know something's wrong. I have to get to them and… and help them somehow!"

"Do you have any training in martial arts?" Splinter asked.

Irma deflated a little. "No…"

"Do you have anything you can use to protect yourself?"

"Well…. no, but-"

"Do you have a plan or any idea what you're getting yourself into?"

"No! But I still have to go!" Irma protested.

"You still have to go?" the rat questioned, pondering her statement thoughtfully. "Why is that?"

"Because if I don't something really bad might happen! I don't know if I can stop it, but I have to try. I- I know it's dangerous and I'm terrified right now, but I have to do something." Irma licked her dry lips nervously. "And not just because of April either. The guys… Leo, Mikey, Donnie, Raph…" It was the first time she used their nicknames instead of their full names (besides Mikey) and Irma wasn't prepared for how well it fit them all. "They're risking their lives for a city that will never know they exist. It's not fair and I want to help them as much as they can." Irma glanced at the ground. "I haven't known them for very long but… I don't want them to get hurt…"

"I see," Splinter said softly and Irma's head snapped up at the gentleness in his voice. The rat sighed. "Thank you for showing my sons kindness. It is… not something I expected them to get a lot of."

Irma's eyes widened, wanting to object, but she knew Splinter had a point. The world would not be kind if it knew they existed. She shook her head. "I haven't done much."

Splinter approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. As weird as it was to have a mutant rat touch her shoulder, she was no longer afraid. "You've done more than you know, and perhaps more than my sons will understand. But I must discourage you if you are going into danger to prove to yourself-"

"That's not it!" Irma said in a rush. "Believe me, I don't want to go. I was… happy to be left out of the battle." She felt her cheeks burn. "But this is different. This is important. I wouldn't be going if it wasn't, trust me."

His eyes smiled at her and she suddenly felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"I do," he assured her.

Irma knew there was a meaning to his words far deeper than she was meant to understand; she found her eyes on the ground, unable to look up at him.

"I do not allow children to go into danger lightly, but I also know I cannot stop them when they know in their heart what they must do." Splinter let out a breath that was half way between a sigh and a calming exhale. "Allow me to lead you through the tunnels to the surface."

Irma's eyes snapped up to him in surprise. "Really? Thank you!"

"As long as you promise me you won't put yourself in more danger than necessary."

"I promise!"

* * *

Irma grabbed the first bus to Central Park. It was dark out and as a native New Yorker Irma knew the streets she had to take to stay safe.

She arrived at the park. It was mostly empty save for one or two people walking by. Irma wondered if she should start walking through the park and try to find them or if that would just be inviting the werewolves to attack her.

Irma tried April's phone again but there was still no answer. Taking a breath, Irma started walking through the park. Walking through Central Park at night was dangerous enough without werewolves inhabiting the area. It was windy and cold, but Irma felt little of the weather as her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

She had only been walking for only five minutes when she heard a crash and the sound of fighting.

Against her better instinct, Irma turned and ran in the direction of the commotion.

Hope filling her, Irma looked for flashes of green, expecting to come across the turtles, but what she saw make her stop in her tracks. A masked figure in crude padded armor and a hockey stick on his back and another in his grip stood face-to-face with one of the werewolves. The werewolf attacked, but Irma could tell the masked figure had the upper hand as he dodged the claws with a grunt and swung his stick out. It connected with the wolf's shoulder blades and the wolf yelped in pain. The wolf might have been twice the human's size, but the human was winning, and both of them knew it.

"Come on, you freak! Ten seconds left in the game and I'm not going to let this fight go into overtime!"

Irma stared, her mouth falling open.

_Casey Jones?_

That was Casey Jones? He had been with her in the cage when the Rat King kidnapped everyone and he didn't tell her who he was? Oh, she was going to kill him.

The werewolf lunged for him, but Casey was quick. He rolled out of the way and was back on his feet before Irma could process what had happened. Casey brought his hockey stick up and swung downwards in one strong motion.

_Crack!_

The stick cracked against the werewolf's head and propelled the beast through there air where it landed in the dirt with a heavy thunk. Irma guessed it was unconscious since it didn't get up again.

Irma found her voice. "Casey!" she called, waving at him.

He jumped, his head snapping around to face her. He stared at her in shock as she ran up to meet him.

"What? What are you-" he cleared his voice, taking on a deeper pitch. "I mean, what are you talking about, Miss?"

Irma rolled her eyes. "Take off the stupid mask, Jones, this is important."

She flipped his mask up, earning an indignant "hey!" from Casey.

"Where is April?" She demanded.

Casey scowled. "You came all the way out here looking for April? This is Central Park at night! What makes you think she would be out here?"

Irma sighed impatiently. "Look, we don't have time for this. April is in trouble, and we have to find her. So are the guys."

Casey paused, suspicion clouding his face. "…What guys?" he asked carefully.

"What are you doing here?" Came an angry voice from the shadows. April and Casey turned to see Raphael stepping out from the shadow of a tree, a frown on his face as he glared at her. His plastron was scuffed up like he had just been in a fight.

"You were supposed to wait back in the lair!" Raphael said as he approached her. Irma crossed her arms and Casey's mouth fell open.

"You know her?" he asked Raphael in bewilderment.

"Not very well," Raphael grunted.

"Aw man! Now Irma knows? What's the fun in knowing mutants if Irma knows about it?" Casey complained, gesturing to her in frustration.

Raphael cracked a smile that Irma did not appreciate.

Irma glared at the punk April insisted on hanging around with and had an overwhelming urge to punch him in the face. Although, granted, she usually felt that way around Jones.

Since she met the red-masked turtle, Irma always thought he reminded of someone. Now that they were standing next to each other, she knew who she had been thinking of.

"Ha ha, very funny." Irma rolled her eyes again. "Listen, I wouldn't have come all the way out here if it wasn't important. If April and the others are with Zeta then they're probably in danger."

Irma hadn't been ready for Raphael's response. All annoyance had been wiped off his face as he grabbed her around the shoulders tightly. He didn't hurt her, even though with that strength she knew he could, but his grip wasn't exactly comfortable either.

"What do you mean they're in danger?" he demanded, his piercing green eyes boring into her own.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I do know Zeta has been lying to us," Irma explained.

"That wolf that came with you guys?" Casey asked Raphael.

"Yeah, where are they now?" Irma asked, casting her eyes around the empty park, even though she knew they wouldn't be there.

Raphael released her shoulders. "Zeta led them to where the rest of the pack is. Since Casey makes more noise than a bulldozer, we decided that me and Casey would take out the two scouts so the others could sneak through."

Irma ignored the "well, we can't all be ninjas," comment from Casey.

"Was that Zeta's idea?" she asked and Raphael nodded with a scowl.

"Yeah, we thought she was helping us out with that tip about the scouts," Raphael said. "We wouldn't have known about them without her, but you're saying she's been lying? How do you know?"

"I was on the zoo website after you guys left. I was trying to find something useful and according to the website there were only eight wolves in the wolf enclosure."

"So?" Casey asked.

"_So_," Irma stressed, "Zeta told us there were nine wolves including her, not eight."

Casey's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Okay, so Zeta was wrong. What's the big deal?"

Irma sighed and resisted the urge to smack her forehead. "She used to be part of the pack; you would think she would know how many members there are! She lied to us, but the question is, why? Why lie about something like that?"

Raphael and Casey looked at each other questioningly and shrugged.

"Okay, why?" Raphael asked.

Irma opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She racked her brain, but nothing seemed to make sense.

"W-well… I- I don't know that yet," Irma spluttered. "But she's obviously trying to trick us. She told us she's and ally, but I don't think she is."

Raphael smacked his fist against the palm of his other hand. "All I'm hearing is that April and my brothers are being led into a trap." He looked murderous. "Anyone who hurts them is going to answer to me." He jerked his head towards the trees. "Time to move. Come on."

Irma nodded and the three of them took off through the thick trees.

"I feel like I should have seen this coming," Irma said as she ran. "It's just like that saying…"

In the light of the moon shining between the trees, Irma could see Casey raise an eyebrow at her. "What saying?"

"Kind of funny actually… or it would be if the situation wasn't so serious," Irma said, half to herself.

"Are you going to tell us or…" Casey prompted in annoyance.

"Well… you could say…" Irma said between breaths. "That the way Zeta was pretending to be our ally…" Irma leapt over a fallen branch. "She was like a wolf in sheep's clothing."

* * *

They arrived too late.

Zeta, April and the other turtles had just emerged from the shadows to confront the pack of werewolves in the clearing. Irma, Raphael and Casey stayed in the shadows, watching the scene before them carefully.

Maybe Irma was just being paranoid? Maybe Zeta had a legitimate reason for her lie and everything would work out the way they planned?

"What's going on?" The large wolf Irma recognized as Beta asked with a growl. His eyes flickered from Zeta to the intruders.

"You two!" he growled at Donatello and April. "You were the one who escaped and attacked Omega and Delta!" Beta was no doubt the largest of all the wolves and the size of his canine teeth had no rival as he showed them off threateningly. "You will pay for that."

"No, Beta!" Zeta said, stepping forward. To Irma's surprise, Beta's ears pressed submissively against the back of his head. "You will not harm them."

Zeta turned to the turtles. "Now!" she shouted. "The device!"

Leo held up his hand to stop Donatello before he could turn the dial. "Wait, which one is Alpha? I want to talk to the leader first." he said, scanning the werewolves for someone bigger or stronger than Beta.

"The leader is here, but is hiding," Zeta spat. "Don't worry, Alpha will be revealed soon. I'll make sure of that."

"Yes…" Beta snarled, glaring at Zeta. "Alpha has a way of… hiding in plain sight."

Beta glanced behind him at the four other wolves in the pack, and at first, Irma couldn't figure out why he was smirking. There were only five of them in total, making the sides even, but then she heard it; the sounds of paws against the ground and bushes being parted. Irma's mouth fell open as two more wolves joined their brothers. Raphael tensed next to her.

Where those the scouts Raphael and Casey had fought? But Irma saw Casey bring that one wolf down! Unless… it had been pretending?

Irma bit her lip. This all felt planned out.

"Looks like my scouts took care of your friends," Beta teased with a cruel smile that exposed his yellow teeth. "Don't you know that you should never split up when dealing with a pack of wolves?"

"Raph?" Mikey whimpered and Irma felt Raphael start forward.

"I'm here, Mikey," Irma heard Raphael whisper and Irma lunged out to grab his arm.

Not yet! Raphael couldn't expose them yet! Didn't he get it? Something was wrong. There was a plan at work here that Irma couldn't quite understand, and as long as they knew one thing the enemy didn't, that they were alive and watching, then they would still have one last advantage.

Raphael turned to her angrily, trying to shake her off, but Irma held on tighter. "Wait," she hissed at him.

Her glare rivaled hers as she tried to silently communicate why they needed to stay hidden.

"Not yet!" she mouthed, "Trust me!" His expression clearly said that he didn't, but slowly his muscles began to relax as he settled back down beside her.

"My brothers! I believe it's time we finish these turtles," Beta snarled.

It was seven against five, and even though April was a good fighter, she could only hold her own for so long. Plus, didn't the turtles mention something about the wolves getting stronger when they fought as a pack?

"Get them!" Beta ordered.

"Now!" Leo cried.

Zeta placed the noise-canceling headphones over her ears just in time. Donatello flipped the dial and turned it all the way up.

The wolves threw their head back and howled in pain. Beta clutched his paws over his ears and sunk to the ground.

The turtles and April shared a relieved smile between them.

"That was close!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Please!" Beta pleaded, his paws still clamped over his ears. "Alpha! Make it stop!"

"Where is Alpha anyway?" Mikey asked.

"I'm not-AH!" Donatello shouted as a blow struck him hard on the back of the head and sent him flying against a trunk of a tree. The silver device flew out of his hand and landed with a thud on the dirt floor only a few feet from where Irma was hidden.

"Donnie!" Mikey shouted, and Irma knew there was no way she could hold Raphael back this time-not that she wanted to anymore- as he burst from the shadows with Casey close behind him.

Zeta stood over Donatello's fallen form, looking quite pleased with herself as she faced the turtles and removed her headphones, placing them calmly around her neck.

"You!" Leonardo shouted, his voice thundered with anger as he pointed a katana at her. "Why did you attack him?"

Zeta shrugged and grinned cruelly. "He was hurting my family," she said simply.

Around them, the fallen werewolves were slowly getting to their feet. Irma glanced at the silver device Donatello built. Had it broken when it fell?

Snarling and snapping their jaws, the wolves formed a circle around them, and in the center, was Alpha.

Leonardo seemed to come to the same conclusion as well.

"You're Alpha," he stated, staring straight at Zeta.

The female wolf grinned. "Took you long enough."

"So all that stuff you said," Leonardo said as the wolves continued to close in, "about how what Alpha was doing was wrong… and how you didn't want to hurt humans…"

"A lie. I think Alpha is pretty brilliant actually, if I do say so myself. When I found out you had a device that could cripple us, I had to find a way to get you to bring it into our trap before you could trap us. To even have a chance, I knew I needed to pretend to be your ally to find out how your device works. It was easier than I thought." She chuckled darkly. "And you were nice enough to give me these headphones! You naïve little turtles. You really should not be so trusting of someone you just met."

Raphael growled, griping his sais. "Can be beat up on her yet, Leo?"

"I agree, time to fight," Beta echoed. "If you're done with your tricks, Alpha, I'd like to settle this fight for good."

Alpha glanced at an unconscious Donatello. "Five against eight, this is hardly a fight. Six if you count the third human hiding in the bush…. But I wouldn't." Alpha caught the surprised look on Raphael's face. "What? I did say I had an enhanced sense of smell. I always knew you three were there. I knew you would defeat my scouts, which is why I told them to play dead once they distracted you enough, but I didn't expect you to follow after your brothers until it was too late. Something tipped you off and told you they were in danger, didn't it? What was it? I'm curious about the hole in my plan."

"Here, I'll tell you," Raphael said through gritted teeth. "Just hold still!" He threw himself at Alpha, his sais barely missing her head as she dodged him.

It was in that moment that the scene before Irma erupted into chaos.

There were claws and teeth and ninja weapons everywhere. They were all moving so fast Irma couldn't keep track of everyone. April and Casey were back-to-back fending off three wolves, one of which Irma recognized as Omega. Mikey was fighting two at once, his nunchuks moving so fast that Irma couldn't see when they hit their target. His usual goofy expression was replaced by a look of concentration that Irma would have never thought he could hold for so long.

Leonardo was also fighting two of the werewolves. His movements where precise and flawless and Irma was mesmerized as she watched him. Unlike Leonardo, the wolves' attacks were untrained and uncoordinated, and their sloppiness was obvious when compared side-by-side with Leonardo's. However, the wolves were large, especially Beta, and much stronger than the blue-masked turtle. In the moments the wolves miscalculated their attacks, they quickly recovered and barreled down on the turtle, forcing him to defend instead of attack.

Raphael had the upper hand in his battle against Alpha, who had obviously been faking the limp earlier since she was unhindered in battle. He was stronger than her and had years of training, but she was quick, quicker than him, and she was smart. Raphael had her pushed up against the trunk of the tree she had send Donatello flying into, and for a moment, Irma thought Raphael had beaten her.

However, she let out a small noise and suddenly, two werewolves appeared (one of them had been fighting Mikey and the other had been fighting April and Casey) and took Raphael from behind, slamming him against the ground so Alpha could escape.

That was why they were so powerful as a pack, Irma realized. Alpha was brilliant and she could coordinate them with only a few sounds. Even though she wasn't the biggest, or the strongest, it was no wonder she was leader.

Irma stared in dismay at the battle. They weren't exactly loosing, but they weren't winning either. It was only a matter of time before someone got seriously hurt, and it might not be the werewolves. Irma glanced at Donatello's device that lay on the ground not far from her. Maybe she could fix it?

She had promised Splinter that she wouldn't put herself in unnecessary danger, but if there was something she could do to help she had to at least try.

Carefully, Irma removed herself from the bush she was hiding behind and crept towards the device. It looked fine, but when she twisted the dial nothing seemed to happen.

"What do you think you're doing with that thing?" Alpha asked, the wolf's large presence looming over Irma. Irma's heart caught in her throat and for a second she couldn't breathe.

And then, some deep rooted instinct screamed in Irma's ear and she moved just in time. Alpha lunged for her, and Irma grabbed the device and took off running. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to get as far away from Alpha as she could.

Irma heard the sound of paws hitting the dirt behind her and Irma pushed herself to run faster. She knew that if she threw the device away, Alpha might stop chasing her. Irma hugged the device to her chest. She didn't know if it was even possible for her to get it working again, but she still couldn't bring herself to drop it. The device could be their only chance. Irma took a sharp turn through the underbrush and doubled back. She knew that if she got too far away from the battle it wouldn't matter if she got the device working or not, the wolves wouldn't be able to hear it.

Irma hid herself behind a tree and tried to slow her breathing down. She could hear the sounds of battle only a few yards from her as she set the device on her lap.

She opened up the side of the toaster with the help of a stick she found on the ground and quickly examined the wiring. Irma spotted the problem right away. One of the wires had become unhooked. A loose wire was a pretty easy fix.

"I can smell you, little girl," Alpha called. "Don't think you can hide from me."

Irma heard the werewolf's footsteps approaching. Her first instinct was to run, but she knew the wolf was faster than her and would eventually catch her. Plus, if she kept running she would never be able to get the machine working again.

"Ha! There you are!" Alpha declared as she began to make her way to Irma's hiding spot.

Irma's hands were shaking as she attempted to connect the wire.

_Please, please, please, please…_

But it was too late.

The wolf's shadow eclipsed her and she looked up in terror to see the hairy monster standing over her, its sharp claws in the air. Alpha grinned, an evil sadistic grin as she brought her claws down.

Irma squeaked in fear as she ducked her head, gripping the device to her chest.

There was a loud noise that sounded like metal hitting something hard, but no pain.

Irma looked up in surprise to see Raphael standing over her, his sais blocking Alpha's long claws.

"What are you doing?" Raphael shouted down at her.

She had no voice. She couldn't respond, but then his eyes widened when he saw the device she had been working on. His green eyes grew hard with determination.

"Fix it!" he ordered, pushing Alpha away with his strength. He stood between her and the wolf, and Irma could hear a grin in his next words. "I'll hold her off."

Irma gave a small nod, her whole body shaking so hard she could barely see straight. There was a deafening ringing in her ears and she felt her head go fuzzy. Irma took a breath and pushed the nausea away. She couldn't faint. She couldn't throw up. Raphael was protecting her so she could fix the device.

She looked up to see Raphael slash at the werewolf and she was filled with a new sense of determination.

She looked back down at the device, and this time even with her shaking hands, Irma attached the wire and shut the device.

Alpha's head snapped in her direction as she heard the device snap close and a look of dread filled Alpha's face.

"No!" Alpha shouted, but Irma had already flipped the dial.

"GAH!" Alpha shouted, clutching her ears. Irma could hear the howls from the rest of her pack a few yards away.

Irma breathed a shaky sigh of relief.

"You got it working?" Casey asked as ran to meet them. "All the other wolves are down, and just in time to-" Casey cut himself off, leapt forward towards Alpha, and used his hockey stick to catch the headphones Alpha was discreetly trying to work around her ears.

Casey threw the headphones to the ground and smashed it with the end of his hockey stick once, twice and then three times until Irma could see the wiring.

Casey grinned at her widely and Irma could see all the spots he was missing teeth. "There!"

Raphael grinned at him and then turned to look down at her, his smile fading as he regarded her carefully.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Raphael told her at last, a hint of both anger and amazement in his voice.

Irma tilted her head and considered him at length. She didn't trust her legs to stand, but she felt perfectly happy sitting on the dirt while the adrenaline left her body, leaving her weak and shaky.

"I'm crazy?" she repeated thoughtfully, and then gave him a smirk. "Well, thank goodness. I thought all the ninja turtles and werewolves I was seeing were actually real. It's good to know they're all in my head."

Raphael blinked at her, and then to her surprise, he laughed; his green eyes dancing.

"You're alright, kid," he said as he held out a hand to her.

Irma shifted the device to her left hand and held it against her body as she reached up to take his three-fingered hand with her right.

Irma cringed in embarrassment as her hand shook in his steady grip, but if he noticed, he didn't say anything. He lifted her easily to her feet.

For a moment, she could stand, but then her knees buckled underneath her weight and Raphael managed to catch her around the waist just in time.

"You wanna actually use your legs there, or am I going to have to carry you?" He asked her dryly, but she could see the humor in his eyes.

Irma steeled herself and she managed to make her legs work just enough so she could stand up without falling, but Raphael still had his hand on her arm as she swayed slightly.

"Guys! Casey went this way!" Irma heard Mikey shout. "Hey, they're over here!"

Mikey appeared from behind the trees, soon followed by April and then Leonardo who was supporting a dizzy looking, but thankfully conscious, Donatello.

"Irma?" April asked. "What are you doing here?"

Irma smiled weakly at them as they gathered around.

Before Irma could speak, Rapheal… Raph spoke for her. "She figured out that Zeta, or Alpha rather, was lying to us and came to warn us." Raphael scowled at them, Leo in particular. "See? This is exactly the reason why we don't trust new people!" To Irma's surprise, Raph then glanced in her direction. "With… some exception," he added begrudgingly.

A smile formed on Irma's lips and she had press her lips together tightly to keep from grinning.

"Hey, my device!" Donatello exclaimed, leaning forward to take it from her.

"You were able to fix it?" Leo asked her and Irma shrugged.

"It wasn't broken too badly," she explained. "And you guys were busy. I wanted to… you know… help somehow."

Leo smiled at her approvingly. "Well, you certainly did that. Thank you."

"Umm, dudes?" Mikey asked as he poked Alpha's hairy head with his finger. Alpha groaned in response and curled into a tighter ball, holding her head in her hands.

Leo nodded. "Yeah, let's deal with this. Donnie?"

Leonardo looked at his brother and Donnie turned the dial down.

Alpha's eyes were glazed over with pain as she looked up at them. Leonardo crossed his arms. "You know what the deal is Alpha. Take it, or Donnie is going to put this frequency all over New York."

"Heck, I could put it all over North America if I wanted," Donatello added. "You have a better hearing then a normal wolf or dog so I could adjust it so only you and your pack could hear it. No other animals would be affected. It would be pretty simple actually."

"Okay, okay!" Alpha exclaimed as she glared up at them. "I know when I can win… and when I can't."

The rest of her pack limped into sight, but they looked exhausted. The fight had been taken out of them. Alpha rose on shaky legs and Irma squeaked in surprise when Raph gently pushed her behind him. However, Alpha made no move to attack.

Alpha sighed and looked up at her pack, which were watching her every move, waiting for her command. "I just wanted to get back at the humans for what they did to us." She turned to them. "You don't know what it's like to be stuck in a cage."

April frowned. "You don't need revenge. You have your freedom now. It's that enough?"

The wolf glared hatefully at the red-head and Irma watched as the turtles tensed, all stepping forward to intervene if needed.

"No," Alpha snarled before turning away in one swift movement. "We'll stay hidden in the park and we won't attack humans, but don't disturb us turtles. You are our enemies and we will not treat you as anything else."

Alpha disappeared into the woods and her pack quickly followed her into the shadows.

"Is that okay?" Irma asked. "Can we really let mutant werewolves live in central park?"

Mikey shrugged. "Well, there are mutant turtles living in the sewers! It can't be that different!"

Irma nodded to him. "True."

"It's a shame. They really aren't that different from us. If they weren't so angry we could have helped each other."

"Eh, it's their loss, Leo," Raph said, throwing his arm around Leo's shoulder.

"What now?" Mikey asked. "Back to the lair?"

"Actually," April spoke up. "Irma and I better get home. Our families are probably wondering why we didn't show up for diner."

"A-are you sure?" Donatllo asked, looking at April in concern. "Those wolves know who you are and they still seemed pretty angry. If they came after you-"

"Then we'll call you right away." April interrupted. "We already know the frequency works over the phone, but don't worry; I don't think they're going to come after us anymore."

Leo looked to Irma with a small smile. "Well, umm, it was nice to meet you, Irma,' he ventured, suddenly a little shy. "Sorry you had to get kidnapped for it to happen."

Irma smiled. "Yeah, next time can we skip the whole 'save the city' thing and just hang out?"

Suddenly, Mikey was in front of her, staring up at her with large eyes. "Next time? You want to come and hang out with us again?" he asked. His body radiated excitement, but there was also a hopeful plea in his eyes.

"Yeah, totally!" Irma responded without thinking, and then she hesitated, glancing around at the other turtles. "…If that's okay?" she added in a smaller voice.

"That's awesome!" Mikey shouted bouncing up and down, and much to Irma's relief, his brothers smiled in response.

Irma adjusted her glasses. "Just no life or death battles next time, please."

"No promises there," Raph said with a smirk. "That stuff is kind of our thing."

Irma looked over at April in exasperation and her friend just shrugged.

"It's true. You get used to it," April assured her.

They walked to the edge of the park with the turtles, but when the turtles stopped, Irma knew that this was where they parted.

April gave Donatello a worried look at the way he was leaning on his bō, but Donnie just smiled at her.

"I'm fine," he assured her, but April just continued to frown, unconvinced.

April gave him a hug and Irma couldn't help but smirk at the blissful look that crossed Donnie's face.

Irma started to wave goodbye, but it was interrupted as she was yanked off her feet, pulled against a hard shell and squeezed gently as if she were a stuffed toy.

"Bye Irma!" Mikey sounded in her ear and Irma laughed.

The ground was once again solid underneath her feet and her head spun at the swiftness of his movements.

"Bye Mikey," she said and he grinned at her.

Casey and Raph did some kind of tough-guy handshake that seemed like it hurt, but they were grinning like dorks.

"See ya!" Casey said with a nod to the other turtles.

As the three humans walked away, Irma looked back to see the four large figures silhouetted by light of the moon and stars.

Then, Irma blinked, and they were gone.

* * *

Casey's house came up first and he waved to them as he climbed up his fire escape and in through his bedroom window. Smart move, since Irma doubted Casey wanted his family to see him dress like some kind of deranged character from a horror movie.

April insisted on walking Irma to her house, even though it was quite a few blocks out of her way.

"So uhh…" April began as they neared Irma's house. "Sorry you had to find out about the guys this way. I wish I could have told you before what was going on and what I was doing but-"

"Hey, I get it," Irma said with a shrug. "You couldn't exactly tell me you were hanging out with mutant ninja turtles. I probably would have forced you to go to the school nurse so you could get your head examined."

April laughed. "Yeah, you probably would have." The red-headed girl stopped and looked up at Irma's house. "Well, here we are."

"Yeah…" Irma said; her mind still back with the event of the day. She felt like when she entered her house and joined her family again, everything she had seen today would just fall away like a dream. She didn't want to let it go.

"So listen… thanks for being so cool with the guys," April said, much to Irma's surprise. "They don't know a lot of humans, obviously, and most of the ones they do know want to kill them. Plus, they know how the world would react if people knew about them…" April clenched her fists and Irma stared at the sudden frustration on her friends face. "They get hit over the head with the fact that they're not normal so much that I think they forget that they're teenagers just like us."

April's serious expression faded away as she let out a light chuckle. "If you don't count the ninjutsu," she added.

"Even though they can't," April continued, "I wish they could spend their time making new friends and just hang out and have a life." April brushed her bangs from her face awkwardly. "So I just wanted to say thanks… thanks for treating them like… not like they're human exactly, because they're not, but for treating them like they're just kids our own age instead of… of…"

April struggled for the right word, but Irma knew what she meant. Guilt began to claw the word out of her throat. The same word she had called Donatello when they first met.

"Instead of a like they're monsters," Irma finished for her.

"Y-yeah," April said, shifting uncomfortably. "They deserve at least that much."

Irma looked away from the girl shamefully. "I called Donatello that when I first saw him," Irma admitted quietly. "I was just really freaked out and scared and-"

April cut her off by placing a hand on her shoulder. She then put her other hand on her own chest to indicate to herself.

"I screamed in Donnie's face when he first tried to rescue me." April told her, guilt deep in her voice. "I still regret it to this day, but he didn't hold it against me, and he won't hold it against you."

Irma smiled at her friend.

"So umm…" April continued, releasing her shoulder. "I'm going to head over to the lair after school tomorrow. Casey has hockey practice, but you can come with if you want."

Irma's eyes widened in surprise and April seemed to take her expression the wrong way as she backtracked fast.

"Only if you want to!" she insisted. "I understand if you need a break from… all of this. It's a lot to take in."

"It is a lot to take in," Irma agreed with a smile that threatened to become an excited grin. "But I think the best way to get used to it is to spend more time with them."

April laughed. "I think the guys would like that, especially Mikey. If you haven't' noticed, he really really likes new people."

Irma chuckled. "I noticed." She started walking up the steps to her house. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow April."

"Goodnight!" April called.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to the purple-haired girl and she turned around to address her friend. "Just… one last thing," Irma said with a serious expression. "If I come to school tomorrow telling you about this crazy dream I had about talking turtles… just be gentle when you break it to me, and if you've ever loved me April, please, please, don't let Jones be the one to tell me."

**There! Done! OMG I can't believe I finished it! Wow, that was a lot of work for something that was supposed to be much simpler. I'm sure Irma will return in later chapters, but for now this part of the story is done. **

**And if you think I created this story just to get that wolf in sheep's clothing line in there… you would be only half correct. It's basically the reason this story has a plot and didn't just end after the first few chapters. I'm a sucker for stuff like that. **

**Thanks so much for all the support and reviews I have gotten for this story so far! You guys are so awesome! **

**This would be a good place to review if you haven't yet now that I finished this mini story. I just really love reading what you guys have to say!**


	9. Chapter 2: Last Words

**A short oneshot from a prompt on tumblr. Takes place after Metalhead Rewired. Isn't connected with chapter 1.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Last Words**

* * *

**June, 5th. 3:04 am**

Late in the lab, Donatello's phone buzzed, breaking the silence of the lair.

**Sender: 1010101110101010100101010101001010101010**

**Message:**

**01010101110000101000110101001000101010101011101010101010101011100001010001101010010001010101010111010101010010101010011100010010001010010010100100101110000010101011100000101010101010100101010101001101010101**

"What the-" Donnie asked as he looked down at the strange message on his phone. It was all in binary, but it was nonsense. He scanned the message again, translating it into English in his head, but it just translated into gibberish. If someone was trying to send him a message, then the message must have been corrupted somehow, because it didn't say anything coherent. His brain quickly ran through all the ciphers he knew, but still, nothing.

It was past three in the morning, but Donnie couldn't go to bed knowing the mystery of the text would be in the back of his mind. Donnie used his computer to track the source of the text, but to his confusion, he found that the text had come from his own computer. Had someone hacked into his system?

_His_ system?

No, that was impossible. His computer had the best security on the planet; he should know, he built it himself.

Had it been one if his brothers pulling a prank? Donnie dismissed that idea immediately. There was no way any of them were tech-savvy enough to pull something like this off.

* * *

**June, 6th. 1:29 am **

**Sender: 1010101110101010100101010101001010101010**

**Message: **

**Did I do something wrong?**

**Was I bad?**

Donnie stared at the new texts in confusion. This time, the strange text was in English, but the source looked to be the same. He used his computer to track the texts, and sure enough, they originated from Donnie's computer again. Confused, Donatello sent a message back.

_Sent:_

_Who are you?_

There was no reply.

* * *

**June, 8th. 12:58 am **

**Sender: 1010101110101010100101010101001010101010**

**Message: **

**Why did you want to shut me down?**

**I did everything you programed me to do.**

Donatello stared at the message for a long while; a feeling of dread began to consume his chest.

It… it couldn't be….

Could it?

_Sent:_

_Metalhead?_

Once again, there was no reply.

Hesitantly, Donatello looked over to where he kept the last piece of Metalhead that survived. It was as lifeless as the day it was blasted back through the portal. All Metalhead's systems were damaged, his AI was destroyed. There was no way…

And yet…

Donatello looked back at his phone. Maybe he could do a little more investigation.

* * *

**June, 10th. 2:45 am **

Donatello ran a full diagnostic on the remaining pieces of Metalhead's system. If there was a signal Metalhead was using to communicate through Donnie's computer and into his phone, it was too weak or scrambled for Donatello to find.

This time, Donatello decided to try something different. He would text Metalhead first.

_Metalhead? Is that you? _

_Please answer me, buddy!_

_I'm sorry I was going to shut you down! I was wrong. You didn't do anything wrong buddy. _

_You saved us. _

**I saved you. That was good?**

_Yes, very good. _

_Metalhead, how are you communicating with me? How are you doing this?_

**It's dark. I don't know where I am.**

**Where am I?**

_I don't know. I'm trying to find your signal but I can't. _

_Just hold on a little longer buddy and I'll figure this out. _

**I'm sorry**

**can't**

**Too dark**

_Metalhead?_

**Wanted to say**

**Goodbye**

**PROGRAM: METALHEAD SHUTING DOWN **

_NO!_

**01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01110011 01101111 01110010 01110010 01111001**

Donatello clenched the phone tight in his trembling hands.

He had Metalhead back for just a few short seconds. He should have done something more. He should have figured out where the robot's memories were being stored. He should have told Metalhead how much good he had done. He should have done something.

Donatello's brain told him Metalhead's last communication was nothing more than a ghost; the last of the robot's programming telling him to report back to his creator. The AI chip had been destroyed. There was no way Metalhead could continue to think for himself.

Donatello closed his eyes, pushing back the tears that threatened to fall.

But no matter how tightly Dontallo closed his eyes, he could still see the last of Metalhead's message. It was written in binary, but this time, the message was clear.

01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01110011 01100011 01100001 01110010 01100101 01100100

I'm scared.


	10. Chapter 3: Ninja Easter

**This story is a little late for Easter, sorry!**

**Thanks so much for all the reviews so far guys!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Ninja Easter**

* * *

"Okay, why are we up this early again?" Raph asked as April practically skipped out of the room.

"Be nice, Raph," Leo hissed. "April obviously has something planned."

"Yeah, and I haven't seen her look this excited in a while," Donnie observed, a small smile on his face.

"Okay then, I have another question," Raph said with a scowl. "If we're awake, how come this shellhead gets to keep sleeping?" he asked, gesturing to Mikey who was currently sleeping face down on the floor. Mikey had initially fallen back asleep against Raph's arm, but the older turtle had wasted no time in shoving him unceremoniously onto the floor.

Leonardo shrugged. "Probably because he's the only one of us that can sleep anywhere."

"And you know how hard it is to wake him up," Donatello added.

Just then, April sauntered back into the room, four large objects hidden behind her back. To the turtles' confusion, their sensei followed closely behind her.

Before they could ask what was going on, April bent down until she was practically on the floor next to Mikey's head.

"Mikey, wake up," she coaxed.

"April, that's not going to-" Leo began.

"I have a surprise for you!" April added in a sing-song voice.

Mikey's head shot up. "Huh? Wha-? What surprise?"

"Well… that worked," Raph stated, sounding irritated, but mostly impressed.

"Why did we never think of that?" Donnie asked himself.

From behind her back, April produced four white baskets, each with a different color ribbon on them. She handed the one with the orange ribbon to Mikey. His eyes lit up immediately as he jumped to his feet in one swift motion. He seemed to automatically understand what was going on, but his brothers were still watching the proceedings in confusion as April handed them the baskets with their respective colors.

"What is this for?" Leo asked while looking down at his basket decorated with a blue ribbon.

"Dudes, don't you get it?" Mikey asked while bouncing on his toes. "It's Easter!"

April smiled lightly, rubbing her arm in embarrassment. "I know you guys don't usually celebrate it, but my…" she hesitated, "my dad used to hide chocolate eggs for me every year around the apartment and when Mikey told me none of you had ever had an Easter Egg Hunt I thought…" April shrugged. "I thought it might be fun to give you guys one. I know we're a little old but-"

"You're never too old for candy," Mikey announced with a straight face as if it were the most serious topic in the world.

"…You might still enjoy it," April finished. She looked to their sensei. "And Master Splinter thought it would be a good idea."

"However, I did have a few adjustments," Splinter added with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You are ninja. You must enhance your skills of perception and deduction. You may only pick up eggs that are the color of the ribbon on your baskets and I have hidden the different colored eggs in locations I know will cause specific difficulties for each of you. There are fifteen eggs each and once you have found all of your eggs in the lair, you will be permitted to search the sewer for the one golden egg. This will be the hardest to find, but if you're the one to find it, the others are required to do all your chores for a month."

Raph, Leo and Donatello seemed to perk up at this.

"But there will be candy in the other eggs, right?" Mikey asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, Michelangelo," Master Splinter assured him with a smile. "There is candy in the other eggs as well.

"Alright!" Mikey fist-pumped. "Let's do this!"

"Don't even think about it Leo! I'm getting that golden egg," Raph assured his brother with a confident smirk.

"You?" Donnie scoffed. "Who's got a map of the sewers in their head?" Donatello tapped his temple. "I do. It's as good as mine."

"One moment," Splinter interrupted. Confused, the teenagers watched as Splinter walked over to the TV, reached behind it, and pulled out a white basket with a yellow ribbon.

He walked back to the curious group and handed the basket to April.

"You are Kunoichi. You too must find the eggs I have hidden specifically to challenge your skills."

April blinked down at the basket, suddenly having to rub at something in her eye, and then beamed up at Master Splinter as she took the basket from him.

"But…" April couldn't stop smiling even though her confusion. "I helped you hide the eggs. How did you manage to hide yellow ones without me knowing?"

With the faintest of gestures, Master Splinter raised an eyebrow at the young girl.

"Oh, right…" April laughed in embarrassment. "Stupid question."

"Can we start pleeeease?" Mikey pleaded, barely able to contain himself.

Splinter nodded. "Yes, you may. Good luck… my ninjas. Hajime!"

* * *

**And if you're wondering who I think won the egg hunt well… remember Hufflepuffs are particular good finders.**


	11. Chapter 4: Her Tessen

**Happy Father's Day! I hope you enjoy this small fic. Sorry I haven't updated this story in a while. I have been focusing on my other TMNT story more, but I haven't forgotten this one!**

**Credit to ****noa91939**** for being an awesome beta for me!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Her Tessen**

* * *

April was happy for Splinter. She really was.

He had the daughter he thought he lost years ago back safe and sound; a large piece of his human life with him once again. Karai was still stubbornly independent. She didn't live in the lair with them and she insisted on taking care of herself, but she left the Shredder and the Foot Clan. She vowed revenge on Oroku Saki for deceiving her for so many years and for causing her mother's death.

It hadn't been easy, but they had finally managed to rescue Karai from the Shredder's clutches and bring her back home.

Although many of the turtles had doubts about saving Karai, Shredder's second in command.

They would defend to the death Miwa, Splinter's daughter.

Although for some, their desire to save Karai solely came from their loyalty to Splinter, not their opinion of the kunoichi.

Karai had officially become their ally, and after time and trust began to grow… a new family member.

April knew she had put this off long enough. She took out the tessen and flicked it open with ease. Over the course of the year, April felt she had been really making progress with the weapon. Before her training, April couldn't throw a half-decent punch. Now she was on her way to mastering tessenjutsu.

April sighed and with a flick of her wrist, the metal fan closed once again.

She was surprised Master Splinter hadn't mentioned anything about this yet, but maybe he had been waiting for her to come to him.

April slid the door to the dojo open. Kicking off her shoes, April stepped inside and slid the door closed behind her. Master Splinter sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Beams of sunlight shone down on his fur from between the branches of the large tree in the center of the room.

April sat before Master Splinter on her knees with her feet tucked behind her. It was an uncomfortable position that she was slowly getting used to enduring for long periods of time. The turtles and Master Splinter could sit on their legs for hours without complaining, while her legs fell asleep in the first half hour.

If Splinter was in deep meditation, April knew she would have to wait, but to her relief as soon as she sat before him Splinter cracked one eye open.

"Is something the matter, April?" he asked gently.

"Well I…" she hesitated for a brief moment and then held out the tessen towards him. "I just thought I should give this back."

Splinter opened both eyes; his gaze moving from her face to the weapon in her hand.

He looked back up at her, his expression never changing from his normal, stoic calm.

"I see," he said at last. "Why are you returning this to me?"

April faltered.

_Why was she-? Wasn't that obvious?_

"B-Because…" April stuttered. "You said that you had been planning to give this tessen to your daughter, but you gave it to me instead. Now that you have your daughter back I thought that you would want to give it to her."

"I see," Master Splinter said again, but he still didn't take the tessen from her. "April, may I ask you a question?"

Confused, April lowered the hand the held the weapon. "Sure…"

"When you lost your father to the Kraang, how did you stay hopeful that you would be reunited with him again?"

April blinked. She had no idea what Splinter was getting at. April looked down at the mat on the floor. "Well…" she began slowly. "It was hard at first. I was determined to see him again, but I had no idea how I was going to get him back. But as time went on… I guess it was…" April looked back up at Master Splinter with wide eyes. "It was you guys. Donnie, Leo, Mikey, Raph… and you. You all gave me hope that everything was going to be okay and you helped me get stronger."

If it wasn't for them, April didn't know where she would be. In the worst time of her life they became the center of her world; her family.

"And now that you have your father back, do you think you will leave us?"

April started forward in surprise. "No!" she yelped. "Of course not! Just because I have my dad back doesn't change anything! I still couldn't imagine my life without…" She looked around at the dojo. This was the place where she first started her ninja training. Training with Master Splinter was the toughest thing she had ever done, but even at the hardest moments of her training, she had never felt more accomplished. "This place. You guys. All of it…"

Splinter placed a paw on her shoulder and smiled down at her.

"That's good to hear," he said in a warm voice. "Do you understand now why I want you to keep the tessen?"

April shook her head, the back of her eyes prickling slightly. "No, I just don't feel right about it. This tessen was meant for Karai… for Miwa," she corrected. "If you hadn't given it to me last year you would have given it to her now, wouldn't you?"

Splinter hesitated and removed his hand from her shoulder, placing it in his lap. "Yes, that is true," he agreed.

"It's not right for me to have it," April insisted. In her next words, April's breath caught in her throat, making her speech barely audible: "I-I'm not… your daughter."

It was the truth, but why was it so hard to say?

April looked away and there was a long silence between them.

"That is true," Splinter said at last. "You are not my daughter like Miwa is."

For some strange reason, April's heart gave a painful lurch.

"If I had never met you, if I had never trained you, I would not have given you that tessen. However," Splinter's voice hardened meaningfully, "that is not the first time my life turned out different than I expected. I thought I was going to raise my daughter in Japan with the help of my beautiful wife, Tang Shen. Instead, I lost my wife and went many years thinking I lost my daughter as well. Not long after that, I lost my humanity as well, and in that moment I thought my life was over."

April stared up at the mournful ninja master, wanting to say something, but knowing nothing she could say would be enough.

"However, in almost that same moment, I met four miracles, and before I knew it, I became a father once again. Then I met you…"

Splinter paused and the emotion on the ninja master's usually calm face as he stared down at her brought tears April's eyes. She quickly blinked them away.

"You, April, who would be the same age as my Miwa, and who had the same fighting spirit I always knew she would possess. The same spirit that my sons also have. As you began learning ninjutsu, I was so proud of you…"

April's breath hitched in her throat and she felt a tear slide down her cheek.

"I gave that tessen to you not because I could no longer give it to my Miwa, but because I knew you were meant to have it." He placed both paws on her shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Our lives don't always work out like we think they will. Sometimes we lose people we love. Sometimes we gain family we can't live without. I was fortunate to gain four sons and the daughter I thought I lost. But I also gained… if you'll permit me to say April… another daughter as well."

Tears fell down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut. A sob clawed at her throat as she lunched herself forward, wrapping her arms around Splinter's torso before she even knew what she was doing. She felt Splinter's arm going around her as he pulled her into a strong hug.

April now understood why it had been so hard for her to say that she wasn't Splinter's daughter.

It was true, she wasn't Splinter's child in the way Miwa was, or even in the way the turtles were. April already had a dad and it had been just her and Kirby for so long that April forgot what it was like to have anyone else in her family.

However, when Kirby was gone April found herself not alone, but surrounded with new family that took her in without hesitation or conditions. She already had a father, but that didn't stop Splinter from guiding her, protecting her, and caring about her. Splinter became a second father when she had none. Even though Kirby was back in her life, like she had said before to Splinter, that didn't change anything. She would still be a part of their family even though she had her father back, and she would still be part of their family, even with the addition of Karai.

Everything was different, and yet nothing had changed.

"Thank you," she whispered into his chest.

He pulled away with a small smile, his eyes filled with warmth and love.

"Now," he began briskly, "we might as well get some training in while we're here. Let's practice with your tessen today."

"Hai sensei," she agreed automatically.

It was remarkable how much she sounded like one of his sons.


End file.
